You may have seen the recent news regarding the collective action being taken by General Practice Surgeries across England and co-ordinated nationally by the British Medical Association (BMA).
The motto for the campaign is "Protect your patients, protect your GP practice".
Why is this happening?
General Practice is struggling. Across England it is becoming increasingly difficult to get an appointment, to see the doctor of your choice or access the care you need, close to your home. GPs are taking on more work from the hospital alongside managing an increasingly aging population with more complex health problems, all on a background of long-term underfunding from the government.
Currently General Practice only receives 6% of the NHS budget. This is just 30p per patient per day (less than the cost of an apple). We believe General Practice deserves a bigger slice of NHS funding so that we can train, recruit and retain more GPs, deliver the services you need and make it easier for you and your loved ones to get appointments to see your GP.
In some parts of the country GPs are unable to pay their staff, their rent, their bills, resulting in some surgeries having to close their doors.
However GPs are NOT going on strike, and this is NOT about their pay, it is to pressurise the Government to invest more in primary care and amend the GP contract so that we can employ enough doctors, nurses and staff to provide sufficient appointments and work safely.
It has long been accepted that the ‘limit’ for the numbers of patients that can be seen and treated safely by a GP in a working day is 25. Here at Moorside we routinely exceed that number and are currently offering a minimum of 31 appointment slots for each GP every working day. Despite this level of availability, we often struggle to meet demand.
The NHS has lost the equivalent of 1694 full time GPs since 2015. A single full-time GP is now responsible for an average of 2,291 patients. This is 354 more than in September 2015. GPs are retiring early, leaving the profession or switching to part time working due to the ever-increasing pressures. Those of us who are left are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain the high standard of care we pride ourselves on.
The main action we have decided to take is to limit daily patient contacts per Clinician to the recommended safe level of 25 per day and to divert patients appropriately to other healthcare workers locally and within the practice, local pharmacies, Accident and Emergency Departments and NHS 111, once this daily maximum capacity has been reached. The hours we open will remain the same however.
This action will commence on 1st November 2024.
We need to act now so General Practice has a chance of survival. This is not something we undertake lightly but we do it to support the nationwide and countywide campaign to improve funding in primary care so that surgeries can move forwards with sufficient staffing and capacity to provide the quality of care we all want for ourselves and all patients.
We hope that the issues will be resolved swiftly, and that General Practice can have a brighter future as a result.
You can read more about this on the BMA website (GPs Are On your Side (bma.org.uk))
How can you help us?
We hope we can count on your support to help save General Practice and return things to how they once were; a familiar family doctor, offering continuity of care in a surgery close to your home.
- Spread the word, let friends and family know what is happening
- Challenge the negativity GPs receive in the media and the community
General Practice has been broken. Help us fix it. GPs are on your side.
Yours sincerely
Dr Jonathan Dixon, Dr Louise Gazeley, Dr Alicia Haddad, Dr Seemab Khan and Dr Ahmed Hassan
GP Partners