GPs IN SOUTH OF ENGLAND CAMPAIGN TO REBUILD GENERAL PRACTICE AS PATIENT SAFETY AT RISK
Date sent: Friday 25 March 2022
Press Release sent by Wessex LMCs, on Friday, 25 Mar 2022
GPs IN SOUTH OF ENGLAND CAMPAIGN TO REBUILD GENERAL PRACTICE AS PATIENT SAFETY AT RISK
- Campaign - Rebuild General Practice - launches as a new poll shows over 8 in 10 GPs in the South of England fear for patient safety
- GP shortages and too little time for appointments were cited as the main factors putting patients at risk
- Jeremy Hunt MP joins forces with BMA and GPDF to call for a GP workforce plan to Rebuild General Practice
GPs from across the South of England and Great Britain are calling for support to rebuild General Practice - as new polling shows that over 8 in 10 GPs in the South of England fear patients aren't always safe at their surgeries and nearly 8 out of 10 GPs in the South of England see this risk increasing over time.
The campaign, called Rebuild General Practice, comes at a time of ‘crisis’ when appointment numbers are peaking post-pandemic, while GP workforce numbers are on the decline.
For the first time ever, GPs will join forces with Chair of the Health Select Committee, Jeremy Hunt MP, to raise alarm bells on patient safety and launch a campaign to Rebuild General Practice.
The poll (of 1,395 GPs from across Great Britain and 50 in the South of England found that):
- Over 8 in 10 GPs fear patients aren't always safe at their surgeries
- Nearly 8 out of 10 GPs feel the risk to ‘patient safety’ is increasing
- GPs cited staff shortages and too little time for appointments as the main factors putting patients at risk -
- 91% of GPs stated they didn’t have enough time with patients
- 77% of GPs said GP shortages were putting patient safety at risk
Dr Kieran Sharrock, a GP based in Lincoln, launched the campaign this week, with a plea for support to rebuild General Practice:
“My message today is simple: please don’t claim credit for our successes while you ignore our cries of anguish about the greatest workforce crisis in NHS history.
“The scale of the exodus from General Practice in the last few years scares me. The UK Government must act soon to stop the bleed, otherwise every family who relies on the NHS will find their basic healthcare needs under threat.”
On recent plans announced by Government Dr Sharrock said:
“GPs are rushing headlong for the exit, and the UK Government is planning another review in England. This is fiddling while Rome burns.
“I implore our political leaders as the cost-of-living crisis bites: if you raise taxes to pay for NHS improvements yet fail to stem the flow of GPs out of local surgeries, standards will drop, waiting times will rise, and you will face a wall of public anger. We must rebuild General Practice, together, now.”
GPs from across England, Scotland, and Wales are calling for more support to Rebuild General Practice which must include:
- Recruitment: The U.K. Government delivering on its commitment of an additional 6,000 GPs in England by 2024
- Retention: Tackling the factors driving GPs out of the profession such as burn out
- Safety: A plan to reduce GP workload and in turn improve patient safety
Jeremy Hunt MP also addressed the crisis in General Practice and called on central and devolved governments for more support:
“The workforce crisis is the biggest issue facing NHS. We can forget fixing the backlog unless we urgently come up with a plan to train enough doctors for the future, and crucially, retain the ones we've got.
As someone who tried hard to get more GPs into local surgeries - but ultimately didn’t succeed because the numbers retiring early exceeded those joining - I'm passionate about fixing this.
The BMA and I haven't always sat on the same side of table, but I’m joining them and other GPs today to sound the alarm about the workforce crisis in our surgeries because we must now rebuild general practice as a matter of urgency.”
Support #RebuildGP
@RebuildGP
-ENDS-
Media contacts
Wessex Local Medical Committees: office@wessexlmcs.org.uk
Rebuild General Practice press team: press@rebuildgp.co.uk
About Rebuild General Practice
We represent GPs from across England, Scotland, and Wales, and are calling for support to Rebuild General Practice.
Patient safety must come first, and patients should be receiving the best care possible. To do this, we need a proper plan for recruiting, developing, and retaining greater number of GPs.
This campaign is funded by the British Medical Association and GPDF on behalf of the General Practice community.
Polling
An online survey was conducted between 5th & 10th March 2022 to gather views and opinions of frontline GPs from across Great Britain
A link to participate was issued by BMA to 20,000 GPs
The survey was independently conducted by James Law Research Associates Ltd.
1395 GPs took part (a 7% response rate – above average participation) resulting in a maximum margin of error of +/- 2.7% (at 95% confidence interval). 50 GPs in the South of England took part in the survey. Note: base numbers will vary as not everyone answered every question.
All aspects of the survey were conducted in line with the Market Research Society code of conduct and guidelines in relation to independent research and in line with GDPR.
Key stats
South England
- Only 18% of GPs in the South of England believe that their practice is safe for patients at all times
- 76% of GPs in the South of England believe the risk to patient safety is increasing
- 91% of GPs in the South of England do not believe they have adequate time with each patient to provide a thorough diagnosis and therefore ensure patient safety
- 73% of GPs in the South of England have felt anxiety, stress, or depression in last year
England
- The NHS in England has lost almost 2,000 full-time equivalent GPs since 2015. (BMA "Pressures in general practice data analysis")
- In just one year (2021) the number of fully qualified GPs decreased by more than 700. (BMA "Pressures in general practice data analysis")
- General practice delivered an unprecedented 366.7 million appointments in 2021 – around 6.5 for every person in the population. (NHS Digital; GP Online)
- The majority of appointments are delivered in person with 60% GP appointments face-to-face and 36% over the telephone in January 2022. Doctors are seeing 45 patients a day. 25 is deemed safe. (NHS Digital)
