I have NO words! I watched the Panorama programme the other night.  I’m speechless – in an “I don’t know what to be speechless about first” kind of way! I don’t recognise the type of service that this programme was talking about. Yes, we face daily challenges in terms of availability. Yes, sometimes we don’t have…

Practices are being sought to save hundreds of newly qualified GPs being lost to the UK, it has been revealed. Up to 1,000 newly qualified GPs are currently facing deportation because of a loophole in Home Office rules, it has been claimed. The Doctors’ Association UK said it was “utterly appalled” at the situation, which…

Changes to fitnote rules and new mental health support should help practices manage the pressures they face, government ministers have said. Under new rules, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists will be able to certify and issue fit notes. The changes will come into force next month and were welcomed by GP leaders as freeing…

Doctors are to reconsider industrial action over changes to general practice, it has emerged. The issue will be a key debate at the British Medical Association conference later this month. Doctors voted last year for practices to take “industrial action” over the government’s attitude towards them. At the time GPs were angered by a government…

Only 50% of GPs intend to work beyond the age of 60, according to the latest survey highlighting the pressure on the profession. GP leaders said the findings of the survey, by Pulse, were “unsurprising.” The survey found significant numbers of doctors seeking to leave the profession before the age of 55. Dr Martin Whitenburgh,…

There was a two-fold rise in telephone and video GP consultations with children and young people during the first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, according to new figures out today. Children and young people’s contacts with GPs in England dropped by 41%, which is equivalent to 2.8 million contacts, between March and June 2020 compared with…

The rate of violent crimes at GP practices has doubled over the past five years, researchers report today. Gareth Iacobucci, of the BMJ in London, UK, led the investigation. He sent freedom of information requests to the 45 police forces in the UK, asking for details of crimes committed at general practices. Of these, 42…