London drive to improve practice safety

Practices in London have received a wide-ranging package of support to help them tackle threats to safety. The resources, from the Londonwide Local Medical Committees, deal with threats to the safety of staff and risks to patient safety from overworked staff. They include posters and template letters to enable clinicians to refuse or return work for which they do not have resources.

The campaign was launched following a survey of practices undertaken in December. This found that fewer than one quarter of practices felt optimistic about being able to deliver safe patient care this year; 51% said they were having to operate outside the boundaries of their clinical expertise.

The LMCs’ Medical Director, Dr Elliott Singer, said: “The document covers steps practices can take to reduce the chances of patient behaviour escalating into abuse or violence. It also details how to plan for scenarios where this unfortunately cannot be avoided.”

Dashboard sets out practice pressures

The Health Foundation has launched a dashboard to provide a “comprehensive” picture of general practice during the election. The dashboard contains details of rising numbers of appointments, declining patient satisfaction and NHS financial support for practices. It shows that last year, just 35% of patients usually saw their preferred GP, compared with 50% in 2018. The Foundation intends to update the data quarterly.

A spokesperson said: “General practice in England is under significant pressure. The number of GPs has fallen in recent years, public satisfaction has declined and there are growing concerns about access, so it is vital that the next government prioritises addressing the major challenges facing general practice.”

GPs voting on action

GPs in England are now voting in their ballot on whether to undertake some form of collective action. The BMA says it will be collecting votes until midday on 29th July.

The BMA is considering a range of action in protest at this year’s NHS England contract. These could include withdrawing from data sharing agreements. Practices might refuse to cooperate with integrated care systems and focus resources on direct patient care.

Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, Chair of the BMA GP Committee in England, said: “Over 99% of our members who responded – that’s more than 19,000 GPs and GP trainees – rightfully rejected the Government and NHS England’s 2024/25 GP contract changes. Despite numerous warnings and their refusal to improve the contract, we’ve been left with no choice but to take action to save general practice.”

Charity calls for improved access for the elderly

Age UK is calling for investment in primary care after a major survey highlighted concerns about access among elderly patients. In Age UK’s survey, undertaken by pollsters Kantar, 49% of over-50s said they were concerned about being able to access their local practice.

Charity Director, Caroline Abrahams, said: “We know that GPs are often as frustrated by the current shortfall in resources as their patients, and that many are working their socks off to try to meet a level of need that is greater than it was before the pandemic. It is also clear that our older population is less well than before COVID-19 struck, with many older people living with a number of serious long-term health problems.”

Labour pledges to bring back family doctor

The Labour Party has pledged that a Labour government would train thousands of GPs and “bring back the family doctor”. GP leaders questioned how a Labour government would pay for its pledges. Labour is currently the strong favourite to win next month’s general election.

According to the party’s manifesto, a Labour government would guarantee face-to-face appointments for patients and deliver a “modern” booking system to “end the 8am scramble”. Patients would also be diverted to community pharmacies while other community clinicians, such as opticians, would be allowed to make direct referrals to specialists or tests. There would also be an expansion of “self-referral” for some patients.

Royal College of GPs Chair, Professor Kamila Hawthorne, said: “As always, the devil will be in the detail and it is essential that these plans are backed up by sufficient funding for primary and community care.”

Patients march through tiniest city

Patients have marched through the UK’s smallest city, calling for their local practice to be kept open. St David’s Surgery, in St David’s, Pembrokeshire, has handed back its contract after the sole GP decided to resign. The next closest practice, three miles away, is run by the local health board with locums and salaried doctors. Hywel Dda University Health Board has been running a consultation on the future of the St David’s practice over the last four weeks.

Rhian Bond, Assistant Director of Primary Care at Hywel Dda UHB, said: “We would like to reassure the patients that we are working to find a sustainable solution for how services can continue to be delivered locally to patients after October.”