Our focussed work on GP services in Brighton and Hove

Healthwatch Brighton and Hove produced this report in 2023 to summarise five years of work examining GP services across the city. The report highlights ongoing concerns about access to appointments, growing patient numbers, a reduction in GP practices and workforce pressures. Brighton and Hove had seen GP practice numbers fall from 48 in 2015 to 31 by 2023, while patient-to-GP ratios remained higher than the national average. Despite these pressures, patient satisfaction with the quality of care remained generally high.

A major focus of Healthwatch’s work has been patient access to GP services. Research found increasing numbers of people delaying seeking help because they struggled to get through on the phone or obtain appointments. Surveys in 2020 and 2022 showed growing concern about remote consultations, with many people preferring a mix of face-to-face and remote appointments rather than digital-only access. Healthwatch also reviewed GP websites, monitored out-of-hours information and provided support to residents affected by practice closures, mergers and service changes. 

The report highlights a number of local examples where Healthwatch supported patients during service reconfigurations, including practice mergers, branch surgery closures and reduced opening hours. In particular, Healthwatch successfully challenged reductions in services at New Larchwood Surgery and received national recognition for this work. Reviews of GP practices also found consistently high satisfaction with GPs and practice nurses, although concerns remained around appointment availability, continuity of care, waiting times and awareness of preventative health services. 

Healthwatch concluded that access to primary care remains one of the key challenges facing the local health system. The report notes ongoing NHS initiatives to increase appointment availability, extend opening hours, improve telephone systems and expand multidisciplinary teams within Primary Care Networks. Healthwatch emphasised the importance of continuing to monitor patient experience, ensure public concerns influence planning and maintain local access to GP services while primary care continues to change.