Practice managers have joined doctors in expressing alarm at the Labour party’s proposals for general practice.

The Institute of General Practice Management wrote this week to Labour leader Keir Starmer and his health spokesman Wes Street after Starmer spoke at the weekend about abolish GP partnerships and enabling patient self-referral to patients. Starmer’s account of his plans, in an article for a Sunday paper, created bewilderment among many doctors as he identified symptoms such as “internal bleeding” as a reason for self referral.

The Institute said it was “bitterly disappointed” at Labour’s direction of travel. It said that practices are undertaking 20% more activity than before the pandemic without any significant increases in funding. It warned of the growing number of doctors wanting to leave general practice. It said it had seen services based entirely on salaried GPs “fail” multiple times. It warned that self-referral would lead to patients “bouncing around” the system through choosing the wrong specialism or finding they are told they do not meet referral criteria.

Signed by its four directors, Kay Keane, Robyn Clark, Nicola Davies and Jo Wadey and its Welsh lead Gareth Thomas, the letter invites Starmer and Streeting to visit a practice “for an honest assessment of the pressures we currently face”.

The Institute said Starmer had replied stating: “Please be assured we are consulting widely on our changes to maintain the future of GP services and the Shadow Health Secretary will take on your views”.