Winter Pressures – Letter to Patients

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Dear Patients,

Winter is always a challenging time for the NHS due to the increased demand and strain from seasonal illnesses like flu and norovirus, as well as colder weather worsening existing conditions.  

The practice has now received the details of the Derbyshire Integrated Care Board (ICB)’s Winter plan for 2025-2026 and we felt it important to share this with you. Their letter is attached for further information should you wish to refer to it.  

The practice will not be receiving any additional funding this winter to allow us to increase capacity and meet the expected increase in demand: 

“No national funding has been identified for Primary Care this winter. Everyone will be expected to manage within their existing budgets. This applies to the funding for General Practice too, with no additional national funding being offered for winter.” 

You can support us over winter by: 

  • Ordering your prescriptions 1 week before you need them 
  • Attending when invited for any long-term condition reviews or vaccinations 
  • Letting us know if you cannot attend or no longer need an appointment 
  • Using other services such as self-care, Pharmacy First, physiotherapists or minor injury units when these are appropriate. Our care navigators (receptionists) are available to guide you to where is best placed to help with your needs. 
  • Once the practice has reached its safe capacity for the day you will be directed to 111 who will triage (review and advise) your need and recommend alternative options or arrange appointments for you elsewhere. 
  • BE KIND – the NHS can be a very challenging environment to work in, Our team are committed to providing you with the best possible care, so please treat them with the same kindness and respect they show you. 

NHS England have written to all ICBs emphasising the need for General Practice to prepare for increased demand over winter by reviewing the actions detailed below. Please see Derbyshire ICB’s advice below (in bold) and the practice’s actions (plain text). 

ICB preparation advice for practices: 

Enabling NHS 111 direct booking across all practices 

  • The practice allocates appointments for 111 to book directly. These are then triaged by the duty doctor who contacts the patient directly (normally by phone in the first instance). 

Enhancing patient communications on service access 

  • We can be accessed in person, by phone or, for routine matters only, online. 

Optimising Enhanced Access services during holiday periods 

  • Belper PCN is committed to providing services via enhanced access. 

Ensuring winter plans include surge capacity 

  • The practice constantly tries to balance the need for routine appointments against managing urgent demand. We feel it is important that we protect access for ongoing health care, particularly for our patients with complex needs who benefit from continuity of care (seeing a clinician who knows them). Without additional funding we are unable to increase our appointment numbers. 

Targeted interventions to reduce avoidable admissions 

  • Please support us by coming to your reviews when invited. These are important for preventative health care and ensuring you are receiving the best possible care. If you have a care plan, please make this easily accessible. 

Full implementation of Online Consultation by 1st of October 

  • We have implemented this. Please remember it is for ROUTINE MATTERS ONLY. We are committed to ensuring patient safety, and the practice agrees with the BMA’s safety concerns about this new system. We can only manage so many enquiries safely within a working day: tired staff who feel they need to rush to complete an unrealistic workload are at more risk of making mistakes. 

ICB’s are expected to support practices in adopting Modern General Practice approaches 

  • We constantly review our systems and are always open to new ways of working. 

Increasing uptake of Advice and Guidance DES 

  • The practice regularly seeks advice from hospital specialists via this system and has done for many years. This system is not suitable for urgent clinical matters and is unlikely to help the practice manage increased winter pressures. Routine appointments and continuity of care need to be protected so that the practice can manage ongoing health issues for our patients. 

Strengthening primary-secondary care (community-hospital) collaboration 

  • The practice follows the BMA guidance on the interface between primary and secondary care. For example, see our “Requests from other providers” guide on the practice and Belper PCN websites.