The Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) has launched a new phase in its campaign to highlight the critical state of general practice with MPs and policy makers.
DAUK is urging GPs and their patients to write to their MPs and the Health Secretary Wes Streeting to warn the new GP contract is a risk to patient safety and call for urgent Government action.
DAUK has made it simple for people to take part in the campaign by providing pre-written letters that can be sent directly to MPs and to the Health Secretary.
Clear and urgent
The message is clear and urgent: “If general practice fails, the NHS fails. Don’t let this happen on your watch.”
The letter-writing campaign follows the imposition of a new GP contract variation from 1 October, which many GPs describe as ‘unsustainable’ and ‘unsafe’.
The new requirements demand GP practices provide online access for patients without providing any corresponding increase in funding, staffing, or infrastructure.
Dr Steve Taylor, GP co-lead at DAUK, said: “We have been increasingly concerned about the messages aimed at GPs from Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Health Minister Stephen Kinnock, and the Department of Health.
Increasing concern
“They have said this is just a few BMA leaders. However, we have heard nothing but increasing concern from colleagues and patients about these new requirements.
“It is puzzling that the Government is using of phrases like ‘laggards’, ‘refuseniks’, and ‘museums’ in picking a fight with GPs, who are providing 20% more appointments than 10 years ago with fewer resources.
“Yet when GPs express concern about the top-down imposition of contract changes leading to problems, they refuse to listen.
Safe patient care
“By getting people and GPs to write to Mr Streeting and their MPs we hope they will see it’s not just the BMA or LMCs, but grassroots GPs and patients who are worried about the future of general practice and safe patient care.”
Dr Sarah Jacques, GP co-lead at DAUK, said: “This latest contract has been imposed without regard for the reality on the ground.
“Practices are already stretched beyond safe capacity. Opening new, un-resourced access routes is not innovation, it’s destabilisation.
Staff burnout
“It will lead to longer waits, staff burnout, and could lead to more practice closures, leaving communities without essential care.”
DAUK is asking GPs and members of the public to take two simple actions that take only a few minutes:
- Write to their MP using DAUK’s pre-written letter here.
- Add their signature to the same letter being sent collectively to the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting here.
Campaign organisers stress that participation is not limited to doctors.
Get involved
Dr Jacques said: “You don’t have to be a GP to get involved
“If you care about the NHS and the safety of patient care, this is the moment to act.”
The letter 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 actively listen to the concerns that we are sharing through them.
The letter concludes with a stark warning:
General practice
“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.”
It’s the latest stage in a long-running campaign by DAUK’s GP committee. The campaign aims to address the disconnect between policymakers and the realities faced by GPs.
The committee is a non-profit group of volunteer GPs who advocate for general practitioners by addressing funding, workforce, and patient access and safety issues. Please support their work by joining DAUK or donating to our GoFundMe.
They provide briefings for politicians and develops policy proposals for improving general practice.
The committee also lobbied policy makers and Government. Members regularly raise awareness in the media of the ongoing GP crisis while countering misinformation and incorrect narratives around general practice.
