GSLP-Liberals-Manifesto-2019

fact, seeking medical care but simply
a certificate to allow them to stay at
home and recover from a minor illness.
This service is operated by qualified
nurses who are formally trained in
telephone triage and any certificate
issued is recorded in the patient’s
clinical record.
WALK-IN CLINIC ACCESS
GP walk-in clinics were introduced
for the very first time. Appointment
capacity in the PCC has markedly
improved with an average of 50
unused appointments every single
weekday. This means that no patient
has been turned away due to lack of
appointments since that date. This
appointment availability has never
been seen and certainly not in the
winter months. Since we secured
funding for this important reform,
primary care services have kept pace
with the winter flu surges.
NURSE TELEPHONE RESULTS
SERVICE
Nurse telephone results represent a
well-established system adopted in
UK GP practices. Two qualified nurses
operate a telephone service where
patients are contacted to inform of
routine clinical results, enabling patients
to receive timely reassurance that
investigation results have been entirely
normal and, crucially, eliminating the
need for patients to seek a further
appointment with the GP.
EVENING CLINICS
The Government was extremely keen
to roll out one of the reforms most
requested by patients: evening clinics.
The Government, therefore, provided
funds for the GHA to recruit 2 highly
experienced GPs. They operate
from 5pm to 8pm on weekdays from
Monday through to Friday evening.
Evening Clinics provide a welcome and
seamless service to patients after they
have left work. These clinics are a real
success story.
SEE AND TREAT MINOR
ILLNESS UNIT
The Government has very closely
examined the inter-relationship
between A&E and the PCC to finally
grasp the reasons for the high number
of patients attending A&E for medical
issues that could be better managed
in primary care. In this context, it is
important to note that almost the
entire Gibraltarian population attends
A&E at least once a year, compared to
30% of the UK population.
As a result, we provided the GHA
with funding to recruit two young and
dynamic full-time GPs to work in the
“See and Treat” service. Nurses and
GPs work together to see patients as
they walk in the door.
MYGHA AUTOMATED TELEPHONE
SERVICE
A fully digitised telephone system,
known as the MyGHA Automated
Telephone Service and accessed by
dialling 2000 7007, is now operational.
As the MyGHA telephone automated
service has become more widely
accepted, we have ensured that
the GHA increases the number of
appointments open to booking to close
to 60% of all available appointments.
Patients can now book appointments
with the GP of their choice. This allows
GPs to spend more quality time with
those patients who need their services
regularly.
GP WITH SPECIAL INTEREST
IN SUBSTANCE MISUSE AND
ADDICTIONS
As part of the Government’s overall
strategy to support persons living
with dependencies, we provided the
GHA with funding to recruit a General
Practitioner with Special Interest in
Substance Misuse and Addictions. This
clinically excellent practitioner started
work at Bruce’s Farm every Wednesday
morning. She works closely with the
Drug and Alcohol Awareness and
Rehabilitation Services to significantly
improve recovery from substance and
alcohol addiction. A second excellent
GP devotes Wednesday mornings to
run a GP clinic in Her Majesty’s Prison
to care for prisoners and those who
may be connected with Prison and
Rehabilitation services.
FORENSIC MEDICAL EXAMINER
SERVICES
Three highly trained and experienced
GPs have taken on the role of Forensic
Medical Examiners, working closely
with the Royal Gibraltar Police to
support crime victims of crime. The
work of the Royal Gibraltar Police is,
therefore, now supported 24 hours
a day, every day of the year by 3 GPs
working on an on-call system.
WELL PERSON UNIT
A Sexual Health Clinic in Gibraltar
was well-overdue. As a result, on 1
May 2018, a very experienced local
GP was recruited to establish and run
an extensively planned Sexual Health
and Family Planning service. The Unit
incorporates Well-Man and Well-
Woman health screening as part of a
non-judgmental and confidential family
service. Gibraltar now has access to an
experienced and professional source
of advice to help them make informed
choices for their family planning.
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
The Government was keen to expand
mental health services situated at the
PCC. In March 2019, two part-time
Counsellors started working, joining
an experienced team of Counsellors,
Psychologists, and Psychiatrists to
tackle the high demand for their
services and supporting the GPs in
managing mental health issues.
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE
COMMUNITY TO TRAIN PRIMARY
CARE STAFF
Since October 2017, the Advocacy
Council for Health Service Users with
Additional Needs has met regularly
with different GHA teams. The key
groups that form the Council advocate
for members of our community who
have specific and additional needs for
health care.
REGISTRATION OF PATIENTS WITH
INDIVIDUAL GPS
On the back of the successful
automation of appointments, a project
to register patients with individual GPs
commenced. Over 13,030 patients
who regularly visit the PCC have
already been registered with specific
GPs.
NEW PRIMARY CARE CENTRE AND
CHILDREN’S CENTRE
The new Primary Care Centre and
the new Children’s Health Centre, the
latter inaugurated already this year, are
100 ...aspire to the best Gibraltar