25.06.14
General practice is ‘imploding’ – BMA
The BMA conference will hear today that general practice is in meltdown, as demand outstrips capacity, disinvestment continues, stress levels rise and more and more GPs take early retirement.
Waiting times for patients to see GPs, especially patients with routine problems, are continuing to rise, GP committee chairman Dr Chaand Nagpaul will say.
The Patients Association has backed the catastrophic message, but the Department of Health said he is “scaremongering”.
In his keynote address, Dr Nagpaul will say: “We are seeing record numbers of patients in general practice: 40 million more annually than five years ago, the greatest rise in any sector of the NHS, set to increase relentlessly with a growing older population, and tranches of care moving out of hospitals.
“Yet despite this escalating workload, we’ve seen brutal disinvestment, with general practice’s share of the NHS budget dwindling in a decade.
“We’ve similarly seen a relative reduction in the GP workforce, with the number of GPs as a proportion of all Drs in England reducing from 34% to 26% in two decades. The simple fact is that demand has far outstripped our impoverished capacity, denying patients the care and access they deserve. It’s therefore no surprise that even a government commissioned report last year showed GPs suffering record levels of stress, and a BMA survey showing that six out of ten GPs intend retiring early.
“I call upon government to finally stop denigrating GPs as the problem, and to see us as the solution.
He will say the NHS is “paralysed with austerity” but that “it’s logical to invest in the unarguable cost effectiveness of general practice”.
The continuing controversy over the phasing out of the MPIG (minimum practice income guarantee) has also been raised by Dr Nagpaul, as some practices are faced with closure without the lifeline funding it had provided. Some have lost a third of their funding.
The BMA’s new campaign, Your GP Cares, wants “long-term, sustainable investment in general practice” to atract, retain and expand the number of GPs; expand the number of practice staff; and improve premises GP services are provided from.
It raises these ‘burning issues;
- An increased demand on general practice caused by demographic changes, more complex health needs and some care moving out of hospitals is all contributing to unsustainable pressures on GP services.
- Based on the current number of doctors working as GPs, and the staff who support them in the general practice team, there are simply not enough hours in the day to meet everyone’s needs.
- GPs are telling us that they are struggling to recruit to vacant posts in their practices and to find locum cover so that patients can still be seen if a colleague is sick or absent.
- The increasing demand and workload pressures are leading to low morale and stress causing many GPs to leave the profession or to consider early retirement.
- Many GP practice buildings are old and need investment to create more room for patients to be seen or simply to make them fit for purpose.
- GPs and their practice teams must have greater support to deliver high quality services that meet the requirements of all their local patients.
A Department of Health spokeswoman said: “The number of GPs has gone up by 1,000 since 2010 and we've taken tough decisions to protect the NHS budget so we can strengthen family doctoring, reform out-of-hospital care and improve GP access for 7.5 million people.
“GPs agreed to be at the heart of our radical plans for more personalised community care in return for cutting their targets by more than a third to free up more time with patients. GPs' premises must be fit to help deliver a single, seamless service for the elderly and the most vulnerable.”
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