A letter from DAUK to the Health Secretary highlighting the critical state of general practice and calling for urgent Government action to save it has been signed by hundreds of GPs and patients.
The letter to Wes Streeting follows the imposition of a new GP contract variation from 1 October, and warns that the contract is a risk to patient safety.
It has been signed by almost 600 GPs and patients, with more than 150 copies sent to individual constituency MPs.
If general practice fails, the NHS fails
The message in the letter is clear: “If general practice fails, the NHS fails. Don’t let this happen on your watch.”
The new contract requirements demand that GP practices provide online access for patients with no corresponding investment, staffing, or infrastructure support.
Dr Ellen Welch, DAUK co-chair and a GP in Cumbria, said: “Every day, around 1.4 million people get appointments at GP practices compared with 67,000 attending A&E.
“People are getting through, we just don’t have enough capacity to see everyone.
Safe capacity
“Many practices are already operating beyond safe capacity.
“Opening up a new access route has simply created further demand that cannot be absorbed without more GPs and capacity.
“Instead, non-urgent consultations are being cancelled, staff are working late, and patients are waiting even longer.
“Clinicians are already under huge pressure and there’s a danger they will be stretched to breaking point and practices just won’t be able to cope.
“This hasn’t been fully thought through and we urge the Health Secretary to think again.”
DAUK letter
The letter to Mr Streeting calls for:
- A pause in the implementation of online access until full impact assessments and safety reviews are completed
- Proper resourcing for online access routes and service obligations. The GPs required to repair general practice exist – but the funding to employ them does not
- Support for a genuine dialogue with GP leaders, and to actively listen to the concerns that GPs are sharing through them
It concludes with a stark warning: “This contract variation does not modernise general practice, it destabilises it. And once lost, the community-based model of family medicine that defines the NHS will not return.”
The letter is the latest stage in a long-running campaign by DAUK’s GP committee. The campaign which aims to address the disconnect between policymakers and the realities faced by GPs.
Why Can’t I See My GP?
A copy of the book Why Can’t I see My GP?, written by Dr Welch, was sent to Mr Streeting, to every member of the Health Select Committee, and to all MPs who are doctors, following last year’s General Election. Why Can’t I See My GP? highlights the crisis in general practice and offers some workable solutions.
Dr Steve Taylor, DAUK GP co-lead, said: “GPs have been called laggards and refuseniks for raising concerns about the new contract, our working conditions, and ultimately patient safety and satisfaction.
“We’re anything but laggards and refuseniks, and are providing 20% more appointments than a decade ago with fewer GPs.
Workable solutions
“But hundreds of GPs have signed our letter to say it can’t go on.
“DAUK’s GP committee has decades of experience and has put together workable solutions which we have shared with politicians.
“We’re here and ready to work with Mr Streeting and his team to solve the issues facing general practice.”
Read the letter to Mr Streeting.
DAUK GP committee
The DAUK GP committee is a group of volunteer GPs who advocate for general practitioners by addressing funding, workforce, and patient access and safety issues.
GP committee members provide briefings for politicians and develop policy proposals for improving general practice.
Members regularly raise awareness in the media of the ongoing GP crisis while countering misinformation and incorrect narratives around general practice.
Please support their work by joining DAUK or donating to our GoFundMe.
