WEEKEND and evening appointments are set to be offered by some GP practices in Pennine Lancashire this winter, in a bid to ease pressure on the Royal Blackburn and Burnley General Hospitals.

NHS chiefs are still deciding which practices will offer extended opening hours until March, following a £4 million cash injection from the government for East Lancashire’s health economy.

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But health chiefs in Chorley have already published their list of surgeries offering extra appointments. Regent House Surgery, Dr Hamad's Surgery, Whittle Surgery, Library House Surgery and Dr P A C Bamford & Partners have all started running some weekend appointments, while Withnell Health Centre and several others are offering more appoint-ments in the week.

Dr Shashidhar Khandavalli, of Dr Bamford and Partners, based at Chorley Health Centre, said: “We are acutely aware of the difficulties working pat-ients have getting to see us, especially over the winter period when demand for appointments is so great.

“We have already seen patients benefitting from the service and hope patients who have trad-itionally found it difficult to get time to see their doctor can make use of the weekend surgeries.”

As previously reported, Berry Lane Medical Centre in Longridge is also offering weekend appointments, from 8am to 11pm on Saturdays and Sundays, while Stonebridge Surgery has extra slots on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Jan Ledward, chief officer at Greater Preston and Chorley and South Ribble CCGs, said: “Patients have told us that during the busy winter months it can be difficult to get an appointment with their GP at a time that is suitable for them.

“These extended opening hours will offer patients and their doctors greater flexibility.”

“We hope that by GPs offering extended opening hours, it will help to alleviate the pressure on other areas of the NHS during the busy winter period.

“We would encourage anyone who feels unwell to contact their GP in the first instance for an appointment rather than going straight to hospital.

“A&E departments should only be used for emergencies, critical or life threatening situations.”