EFFORTS made to extend GP opening hours in Wokingham have not been taken advantage of by residents, according to Berkshire health chiefs.

Evening and weekend opening times were introduced on 1 October, 2018.

Cathy Winfield, Chief Officer of Berkshire West Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), told Wokingham councillors at a meeting on Monday (January 21) that the authority “doesn’t know if people know it is available.”

She continued: “Sundays are really low (for appointments), but Saturdays are growing – it is very embryonic.”

The services have become available at weekends and in evenings after the CCG allocated Wokingham’s medical practices to three different areas, known as ‘clusters’.

This means patients can now see GPs at practices in the same area as their regular surgery in either Wokingham West, Wokingham East or Wokingham North.

For example, a patient signed up to a practice in Wokingham East’s Woosehill could also attend Wokingham East’s Burma Hills surgery if they needed an appointment.

Winfield added: “Most people want to be with somebody they already know. GPs can’t work all day and evenings, so the only way we have done this is to work in clusters.

“At the moment we can’t do it online as well. You have to book on the phone with the receptionist – you can’t book online on a Saturday or a Sunday.”

This year the authority is set to work on a scheme called ‘design our neighbourhood’, which will see the CCG co-operate with various different groups and communities to refine the clusters allocated to Wokingham.

Winfield said: “We want to engage with the local authority to do this. We want people to see what services they can get, what social care services are operating here. It literally is what it says.”

Debbie Milligan, the GP lead for the Wokingham locality of Berkshire West CCG, added: “We get to share resources and that is why we are changing it geographically.”

Earlier in the meeting the Berkshire West representatives had discussed how population surges in Wokingham would impact medical services in the area.

The CCG expects to see population growth of 10,000 in north and south Wokingham by 2026, with another 15,000 set for South of the M4 and Arborfield Garrison in the next seven years after hundreds of houses are built in these areas.

The CCG’s strategy to cope with this demand has been to expand existing surgeries and build new capacity at Wokingham medical centre and Shinfield practice.

As well as housing growth, Cathy Winfield also told councillors about the challenges caused by existing patients in Wokingham.

She said: “We are living longer with more complexities. People have multiple long term conditions.

“We know we have to gear up to face growth in Wokingham.

“All of our practices will be able to absorb the population growth we are expected to see.”

Councillors heard about the ways Berkshire West CCG was tackling their population growth challenges at a meeting of Wokingham Borough Council’s health overview and scrutiny committee on Monday, 21 January.