Transforming Enhanced Access in Wolverhampton with Lantum

When NHS England introduced additional funding for Enhanced Access in 2017, many GP practices in Wolverhampton were hesitant to participate. Concerns over financial viability and workforce capacity made it difficult to secure buy-in.

To make the service work, practices needed an efficient, low-risk way to manage staff, schedules, and costs — without creating extra admin or going beyond the funding pot. 

A proposal was put forward: practices would transfer the funding to a single organisation that would manage Enhanced Access on their behalf. 18 out of 45 practices agreed to this model, enabling the launch of Unity Primary Care

The challenge:

Led by Dr. Kam Ahmed, Unity Primary Care began delivering extended hours—6pm to 8pm on weekdays and 8am to 2pm on weekends. 

The service, which included GPs, nurse practitioners, and clinical pharmacists, proved highly effective. By the end of Year One, Dr. Ahmed’s team had not only demonstrated the model’s viability but also achieved profitability, gaining buy-in from more GP practices in the area. 

However, certain aspects of service delivery were inefficient, creating unnecessary administrative burdens and consuming valuable time that could have been better spent elsewhere. As Dr Ahmed says: 

“It was becoming an onerous task for the service manager to try and keep up on top of staffing with, spreadsheets I thought, there's got to be a more efficient way to do this, so we looked at rota management systems.”

Solution: Lantum as the workforce backbone 

Lantum was selected as the workforce management solution that would meet their needs: ensuring seamless rota coordination, compliance tracking and payroll automation:

“I thought Lantum was efficient and user friendly – getting all your shifts in one place.”

As a result, the team’s time has not only been freed up, but redirected – shifting from spreadsheet management to valuable service improvements, patient engagement and fast delivery of new services. When COVID-19 hit, as Lantum was already being used, the team were able to pivot and quickly set up a Covid Red Zone:

“Because we were already set up on Lantum, we had our data sharing agreements with practices already through our Enhanced Access. For us to turn around and set up a Red Zone service took less than 24 hours.”  

One key innovation Unity Primary Care adopted was in their staffing model. Instead of multiple GPs per shift, the service operates with a single GP, supported by a multi-disciplinary team, including nurse practitioners and clinical pharmacists. 

By creating a flexible pool of staff on Lantum, the team have been able to ensure that shifts are consistently covered — even on bank holidays. 

In fact, since opening in 2017, Unity Primary Care has maintained an almost unheard of track record of staying open every day of the year.

The results:

Reliably filled shifts

The service has never faced workforce shortages. By building a flexible pool of local staff shifts are easily filled, and for last minute emergencies the team can access Lantum’s pool of 30,000 vetted locums. 

Reduced admin burden

Manual rota management became unmanageable as demand grew. Lantum has streamlined scheduling, payroll, and compliance, freeing up management time for service improvements.

Transparent reporting

Transparency and performance tracking are crucial for accurate reporting to the local Integrated Care Board (ICB). With Lantum the team can easily pull the data they need to report consistently.

Service expansion

With Lantum providing operational efficiencies, the team has been able to introduce additional services, including a breast cancer contact service and audiology clinics.

Looking Ahead

Now managing Enhanced Access for half of Wolverhampton, covering approximately 180,000 patients, the service continues to evolve. The team remains committed to innovation—ensuring out-of-hours care remains accessible, sustainable, and fit for the future.

“I don't think that it would have gone on this long if we didn't have Lantum in place. I've gone back and looked at the other systems we looked at way back in 2018 and I wouldn't swap, for love nor money.”

To find out how Lantum can help you set up your Enhanced Access Hub, get in touch with our team or email enquiries@lantum.com