DAUK’s GP committee highlighted issues facing general practice in a series of media articles and interviews.
Dr Ellen Welch, Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) co-chair, contributed to a report in Pulse on new Government general practice figures.
GP teams in England delivered 7m more appointments in the past 12 months, according to Office for National Statistics figures. Patient satisfaction was also rising, the ONS said.
Dr Welch said: “We may be seeing more patients with improved access, but these figures may not fully capture the turnover in the system or the emergence of a two-tier workforce.
“Most of these appointments were delivered by non-GPs – so how many patients end up with multiple consultations instead of one with a familiar GP?”
Media statement
Our statement with the Medical Women’s Federation (MWF) on comments by Dr J Meiron Thomas was referenced in Pulse.
Jaimie Kaffash, Pulse editor-in-chief, said it ‘highlighted the real reasons behind problems with access, and the structural issues faced by women in medicine’.
Dr Steve Taylor, DAUK GP spokesperson, also spoke to Pulse for a report on NHS England failing to update physician associate job descriptions in line with Leng review recommendations.
He said: “NHS England has created this problem with promotion of PAs in general practice, specifically seeing undifferentiated patients as part of their stipulation in ARRS.
“The Leng review clearly backed both RCGP and BMA positions on the use of PAs in general practice. It was and remains unsafe for PAs to see undifferentiated patients with limited supervision.”
Physician associates
He added: “The fact that NHS England has not backed their previous released statement to GPs by doing the same thing, shows how much a mess NHS England is making over this. It leaves GPs in a difficult position medico-legally.”
Speaking to GP Online about the issue of physician associate job descriptions, Dr Taylor described it as ‘a mess’.
He said it left GP practices ‘in a very difficult position medico-legally’ – and expressed sympathy for PAs themselves, who he said had been ‘sold a role which was not suitable for them by NHS leaders’.
GP Online exclusively reported that more than half of the £82m for additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS) GP jobs in 2024/25 went unclaimed.
Dr Taylor said the scheme should be expanded to include all GPs rather than only newly-qualified ones.
Advice and guidance
GP Online reported more than 99% of practices in England have signed up for the £80m advice and guidance DES launched this year.
Dr Taylor said it was ‘a no-brainer’ as practices were already carrying out the work without being paid.
He added: “The challenge is if it’s used as a stop-gap mechanism for hospital failures in terms of getting patients seen, [then] it does put more work on general practice.”
Dr Taylor also contributed to a Pulse report that other NHS organisations were to take on GP budgets under a ‘year of care’ plans.
Primary care budgets
He said: “GPs have experienced fixed budgets for patients for decades and have been unable to claim more or run at deficits.
“Secondary care has run deficits and often been bailed out. Trusting secondary care with any element of primary care budgets is a recipe for disaster.
“Patient funding for primary care and GP services needs to be higher and never lumped in with secondary care costs.”
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