New health hubs offering extra face-to-face GP appointments in the Black Country

The hubs, located in Sandwell, Dudley, Walsall and West Birmingham, are supporting GP practices by providing same-day, face-to-face appointments.

They were initially set up for children with suspected respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a common winter virus that causes cold-like symptoms and coughs, and can lead to hospital admissions in babies, young children and vulnerable adults.

However, they have since expanded to offer a range of appointments for children, and in some cases adults.

The hubs are by appointment only, and patients can be referred by their GP if they have symptoms that require a same-day, in-person appointment.

Dr Tania Hussain, primary care clinical lead for maternity, children and young people for NHS Black Country and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “Health services saw an earlier than usual upsurge in RSV prior to winter, as fewer people had built up natural immunity during the pandemic.

“As RSV primarily affects children, we knew there would be an increased demand for face-to-face appointments for children and infants. To meet this demand, we implemented the RSV hubs to create additional capacity to ensure children could be seen by a GP straight away.

“Since the first hub opened its doors in January, we’ve seen thousands of patients benefit from this service, which is fantastic. In fact, many of the hubs are now seeing children and adults with a variety of respiratory or viral illnesses including flu, bronchitis and norovirus, to help ease the pressure on GP practices.”

The hubs are funded by Black Country and West Birmingham CCG from its primary care access fund, which is investing £6.4million to create extra capacity in general practice in response to record levels of demand for appointments.

Dr Tehmina Rahman, local GP and lead for the Sandwell hub, the first to open its doors, said: “We opened the Sandwell hub in January specifically for young children under the age of six who we suspected had RSV. The hub has been so successful that we’ve since extended this to cater for all children under the age 12 with any respiratory or viral illness.

“All GP practices in Sandwell have direct access to the hub and can book an appointment for their patient online. At the hub, we see on average 70 children a day from across the borough; it’s a great example of collaborative working that benefits both patients and practices.

“Not only does it provide much-needed capacity for GP practices at a time where there is already an increased demand for appointments, but it also means more children can be seen face-to-face straight away and parents are less likely to take their child to a walk-in clinic or A&E.”

Seven-month-old Hunnardeep Singh was brought to the hub by his dad, Sandeep Singh.

Sandeep said: “Hunnardeep hasn’t been very well for a while with a chest infection, and it seems to be getting worse. We phoned our local GP this morning and now we’re here.

“It’s worrying when a little baby has a chest infection so it’s good that we’ve been able to get an appointment so quick. We called this morning and we’ve been seen today, so being able to get him looked at so quickly has put our minds at ease.”