Online consultations are now being offered by practices in Basildon and Brentwood.

Patients registered at 37 of the 44 GP practices in the area will be able to speak to their GP online via a specially developed web programme.

The project is hoped to “give them more choice and to improve access” and it was set up following a successful bid for funding from NHS England.

Tile House Surgery in Brentwood and Robert Frew Medical Centre in Wickford were the first to go live, with the remaining practices introducing the service over the coming months.  

The appointment will take place via Web GP a website platform (that can be linked to any existing GP practice website) that was designed to help deal with increasing patient demand.

It aims to provide alternatives to calling or coming into the GP surgery for common, more minor presentations. 

In Basildon and Brentwood the online service is accessed through each practice’s own website and includes a symptom checker, self-help guides and signposting services to help you find the right service for your problem or to help solve a number of issues.

Alongside this there is 24/7 phone advice within one hour and e-consults where patients can request advice and treatment from their own GP within one working day.

For more information see the pilot report from Web GP here