05.10.15
NHS Alliance calls for better system integration to reduce ‘unnecessary’ GP appointments
One in four GP appointments could be avoided if there was more co-ordinated working between practitioners and hospitals, wider use of primary care staff and better use of technology to “streamline administrative burdens”, an NHS Alliance report has found.
The study, undertaken jointly by the Primary Care Foundation, was commissioned by NHS England as part of its work to “expand and strengthen” GP services and primary care in England. It was overseen by a “steering group” including the Royal College of GPs and the BMA GPs Committee.
The report found a “significant” amount of GP time could be freed up for patient care if family doctors did not have to spend so much time re-arranging hospital appointments and chasing up test results from local hospitals. This was an issue with around 15 million (4.5%) appointments across England.
It also determined that one in six patients in the study could have been seen by someone else in the wider primary care team, such as clinical pharmacists, practice nurses or physician assistants, or supported to “meet their own health needs”.
Dr Jonathan Serjeant, national lead of NHS Alliance’s Accelerate programme, said: “GPs and their colleagues are experts in listening, supporting and diagnosing their patients. This is what we’ve been trained to do, and what we want to do.
“If applied quickly, the recommendations set out in this report, particularly those around extending the GP team to incorporate other health professionals, will help reduce the current levels of bureaucracy GPs face on a daily basis.
“The end result is that GP time is freed up, and people have access to all their information whenever they need it.”
The report comes shortly after an announcement by prime minister David Cameron to introduce seven-day GP services across England by 2020. Part of his plans include removing bureaucratic box-ticking and micromanagement, recommendations which also form part of NHS Alliance’s report.
Major causes of bureaucracy outlined in the report included getting paid, processing information from hospitals and other providers, keeping up to date with changes, reporting information and supporting patients to navigate the NHS.
Reducing this bureaucracy must therefore be a “national priority”.
Other recommendations included practices freeing up time by working together (which also featured in Cameron’s proposals), enhancing communication between general practice and hospitals, and integrating the whole system through federations and interoperable systems.