DAUK’s Dr Lizzie Toberty has written a column in a national news website to highlight issues facing general practice following the vote by family doctors to stage collective action.
The GP lead for the Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK), Dr Toberty warned the two per cent annual contract uplift offered by NHS England was ‘not enough to sustain the services patients need’ and that practices will go under.
Dr Toberty said that if funding of general practice continued in the same way, ‘there will not be enough GPs left’.
Writing for Metro, Dr Toberty said she and her DAUK colleagues supported the collective action voted on this week by GPs and explained reasons behind it.
She said: “Historically GPs have just plugged gaps in care, working above and beyond their contracts for free. NHS England and the last Government were repeatedly warned this was not sustainable.
“But our calls were ignored and therefore – rather than closing our doors and striking – we are aiming to work in a safe way and take care of our patients properly, while also demonstrating to the system the sheer amount of unfunded work we have been doing.”
Postcode lottery
Dr Toberty added: “Without these recently voted-on actions, we are hurtling towards a two-tier model similar to dentistry, where it will be a postcode lottery whether an NHS GP will be available for you at all.
“Unfortunately, we already have practices handing back contracts and going bankrupt at an alarming rate. This chaotic shambles is a nightmare for patients and leaves them confused as to where to turn when unwell.
“As a mum, daughter, and a GP, I’m terrified there may not help available for us when we need it.”
Read Dr Toberty’s column in Metro.
Her colleague on DAUK’s GP committee, Dr Steve Taylor, spoke on national radio about the collective action, describing it as ‘fundamentally about patient care’.
During an interview on Times Radio Breakfast, Dr Taylor said that general practice had been underfunded for the past 10 to 15 years, that GPs were doing more work than ever for less pay, and that the vote was a signal that something needed to change.
He said: “Fundamentally this is about patient care.
“We as GPs want to provide care for patients.
“For the last 14 years we haven’t had enough funding to make practices work.”
Listen again to Dr Taylor’s interview on Times Radio Breakfast, starting at 1:51:15.
