Introduction
Patients registered with a GP practice in Bury have access to additional general practice appointments during the evening and at the weekend.
This service has proved very popular with patients, offering more choice and a convenient and flexible service, with the availability of additional GP and Nurse appointments that can be booked via their own GP practice.
Improving evening and weekend access for our patients
We have been listening to feedback about what patients value most when accessing general practice appointments out of normal hours. More specifically we have been exploring how we might improve access for patients registered with one of the seven GP practices that Horizon Primary Care Network (PCN) represents, the seven practices are*:
- Garden City Medical Centre.
- Mile Lane Health Centre.
- Peel GPs.
- Redbank Group Practice.
- Ribblesdale Medical Practice.
- Tower Family Healthcare.
- Woodbank Surgery.
What we are proposing
The current Enhanced Access offer provides services across three PCNs, including Horizon PCN.
To help to tailor services to the needs of our patients, we are proposing a dedicated Enhanced Access Service for Horizon PCN, that the patients registered with one of the GP practices listed above can access*.
Other local PCNs will be undertaking a similar scoping exercise.
For our patients, our vision is to provide more appointments, more locally.
Focussing on delivering services from two locations close to where our patients are registered with their GP practice, whilst increasing the overall number of GP appointments to improve access.
The table below highlights the current service and what we are proposing
| Current service | Proposed service to come into place from early 2026 | |
| Service locations | Locations in:
| Locations in:
|
| Days of operation | Monday to Friday evenings Operating at one site – rotating between Bury and Prestwich | Monday to Friday evenings Operating at both sites – in Radcliffe and Bury Town Centre |
| Saturday and Sunday service
Operating at all three sites | Saturday and Sunday service Operating at both sites – in Radcliffe and Bury Town Centre | |
| Patients served | The current service provides care to:
| The proposed service would provide care to:
|
| Appointment availability | The current service offers:
| The proposed service would offer:
|
Your feedback matters to us
Our future vision for the Enhanced Access Service aims to provide a local service tailored to the needs of our patients – local access and additional appointments.
We would welcome your thoughts on the proposed changes. Please let us know your feedback by completing this short online form.
If you would like this information in a different format, please get in touch.
Thank you.
