Rebuild General Practice
About the Campaign
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A recent poll of more than 1300 GPs found: General Practice is in crisis. Patient safety is at risk. |
Monday 21st March 2022, saw the launch of the BMA & GPDF funded campaign, Rebuild General Practice; with a clear call to action for UK and devolved Governments: rebuild General Practice or put patient safety at increasing risk.Nearly 9 in 10 GPs fear patients aren't always safe at their surgeries.
- 7 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 -
- 86% of GPs stated they didn’t have enough time with patients
- 77% of GPs said GP shortages were putting patient safety at risk
The Rebuild General Practice campaign comes at a time of ‘crisis’ when appointment numbers are peaking post-pandemic, while GP workforce numbers are on the decline.
Campaign leads will raise patient safety concerns and set out a 3-point plan for a General Practice rebuild. This 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.
The plan will deliver the General Practice service that patients and staff deserve. Rebuilding General Practice will:
- Give GPs across the UK the time back to deliver the quality of care they want to be able to give patients, while ensuring that patients are cared for by the right General Practice team member.
- Resolve the difficulties many patients are facing in getting timely GP appointments.
- Benefit the NHS as a whole, by alleviating pressure on hospitals and help to tackle the backlog which existed long before the pandemic.
GPs in South of England campaign to rebuild general practice as patient safety at risk: Read Wessex LMCs Press Release, sent to local media on Friday 25th March 2022.
Get involved
Your support to amplify these messages will help raise the alarm and ultimately secure a better working environment for both GPs and patients.
General Practice can like and share the @RebuildGP campaign messages on social media using the hashtag #RebuildGP.
Visit the Rebuild General Practice website and download campaign assets below. Practices are encouraged to use this content to share within their networks, publicise to patients and meet with their local MP.
Draft letter template to send to your local MP
Example Q&A's for interview purposes
Media Training Pack - Tips to help GPs when dealing with the media
Campaign assets for General Practice use
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Social Media Fact Cards
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Online Media Coverage
Jeremy Hunt joins BMA call to stem ‘bleed’ of NHS doctors
Ex-Health Secretary teams up with 'former enemies' to shame Government over GP crisis
Lack of GPs to cause 100 practices per year to close says British Medical Association
Warning over patient safety as poll shows 87% of GPs say they are too snowed under with work
GPs warn about patient safety as they tackle care backlog in UK
NHS moving towards ‘Uberisation’ of GP services, warns Jeremy Hunt
Over 80% of UK GPs think patients are at risk in their surgery, survey finds
GPs unveil blueprint to rebuild general practice backed by former health secretary
BMA and Jeremy Hunt join forces for campaign to ‘rebuild general practice’
‘Rebuild general practice’ campaign launched by BMA and Jeremy Hunt
British Social Attitudes Survey
Public satisfaction with the NHS has fallen to its lowest level since 1997, according to analysis of the 2021 British Social Attitudes survey (BSA) published 30th March 2022, by The King’s Fund and the Nuffield Trust. Read more here
Dr Rachel Ward, a GP in Oxfordshire who is part of the Rebuild General Practice campaign: “As a doctor who came into General Practice to look after patients, this data is devastating, but it isn’t surprising. Years of underfunding and neglect has left General Practice in crisis. Recruitment and retention of GPs has not kept up with growing demands, yet patient appointments are at an all-time high. Simply, there are not enough GPs to match patients’ needs - and this is the terrible result. To patients, we want to say that we are on your side and we feel your pain. To Government, we ask again for more support to rebuild general practice so that GPs can provide the quality of care our patients deserve.”
