A NEWPORT doctors' surgery is to open on Saturday morning as part of a three-month trial.

St Brides Medical Centre in Duffryn is running a fortnightly two-hour Saturday clinic for patients registered with the practice - and only with a pre-booked appointment.

The move comes as a survey to rate GPs in Gwent found that access to them has been improving, when rated against five key measurements.

Access to such services is a high profile issue in the NHS in and beyond Wales, and Saturday opening is being examined as a potential way to extend it, though it is likely to be subject to much more scrutiny and testing.

Meanwhile, health bosses are seeking ways to maximise opportunities for patients within existing GP core hours of 8am-6.30pm.

The 'A' is for Access accreditation scheme was launched two-and-a-half years ago in Gwent and is now recognised as an example of NHS good practice

It is intended to provide an indication of the quality of access offered by each of Gwent's practices, currently numbering 89 across five council areas, and is based on five key measures, with practices awarded an 'A' rating for meeting each one.

When the scheme was launched early in 2012, just 27 practices Gwent-wide achieved a 5As rating. But that figure has almost doubled, to 53. The five criteria are:

* A morning opening time of 8am, and a consultation start time of 8.30am;

* Doors remaining open during lunchtime;

* A last routine appointment time of 5.50pm;

* Telephone access to surgery staff from 8am-6.30pm;

* A 'sort it in one call' system that enables patients to arrange an appointment with one phone call, or internet booking through the My Health Online system.

There are two pre-qualifying criteria for the scheme - no half-day closures and where applicable, branch surgeries' access arrangements should complement those of a practice's main surgery.

The latest 'A' is for Access figures indicate that all but four practices in Newport have now achieved a 5As rating. In each of Gwent's four other council areas, around half of the practices are 5A rated for access.

Practices' ratings can be viewed by downloading the access standards at www.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/866/directory/gps