Practices urged to win patient support for funding

As an election looms, practices are being encouraged to win patient support for more investment in primary care. The campaign group Rebuild General Practice says a poll of patients shows growing support for primary care, with the majority believing it should be a priority for health spending.

The group said: “The crisis in general practice has been caused by decades of neglect. GP funding has been cut by almost £350m in real terms since 2019. Patients and professionals from across the NHS agree: it’s time to offer fair funding for general practice.”

Backing the campaign, Dr Ian Harris, a GP from Bridgend, Wales, said: “GPs in Wales are seeing more patients than ever, but with fewer resources and fewer staff. This is unsustainable unless we see urgent action from politicians to save our surgeries and invest in general practice.”

Practice crisis in Northern Ireland laid bare

According to the Northern Ireland Audit Office, 98 practices have sought crisis support in the last four years. In nine places, patients are still being served by temporary arrangements – with locums being paid up to £1,000 a day to keep services going.

Meanwhile, extra GP training places (121 places this year) have mainly been taken by international medical graduates who may not stay in the region. They found that GP numbers have increased but say it’s likely that sessions have reduced because of changing working arrangements. In the region, just 8% of patients have access to the full range of multidisciplinary team roles, and this is partly due to a lack of suitably qualified staff.

Auditor General Dorinnia Carville said: “Today’s report reflects the extreme pressures GP practices are facing.”

Online registrations increasing

One third of practices are now taking part in the new online patient registration system, which was launched 18 months ago. NHS England say that a million patients have now used the service, which allows online registration at any time of the day. This compares with the total of 6.8 million registrations processed annually by practices.

Nicola Davies, Practice Manager at the Roseland Surgeries, Cornwall, said: “The service is straightforward for practices to use, with no formal training required. It fits in around our existing processes to welcome a new patient to our practice, for example arranging medication reviews for new patients with repeat prescriptions. In my practice we have received really good feedback from patients as they no longer feel the need to contact our team during opening hours regarding registration – it’s given them an option that wasn’t previously available and saved the need for a trip to the surgery which is often unnecessary.”

Online consultations popular with many patients

Online consultations, which can offer patients speed, flexibility and efficiency, are popular with those who struggle to communicate in an in-person meeting, but researchers have found that many patients still prefer traditional face-to-face meetings with GPs and other staff.

In the survey of 11,000 patients at 240 practices, some patients cited the benefits of having a written record of the consultation. Researcher Dr Benjamin Brown and his colleagues from the University of Manchester found that the service gave benefits to patients who are hard of hearing, anxious or who may have autism, and was favoured by male patients more than female patients. The findings have been reported in the British Journal of General Practice.

Community diagnosis to reach ten million tests

Community diagnostic centres have now delivered seven million tests, with another ten million planned for the coming year. There are 155 centres, located in places like shopping centres and university campuses, with another five planned for 2025. They have opened a new route for practices to order tests without referral to secondary care.

Health Minister Andrew Stephenson commented: “Diagnostic centres are playing a vital role in helping to cut waiting lists by delivering checks and scans to people who need them, helping reduce pressures faced by hospitals across the country. Placing these centres in easy-to-reach locations, such as shopping centres and near football stadiums, means that people can get the support they need more quickly.”

Anger as GP told her practice is being tendered

Patients are backing their local GP after it was decided to put her practice out to competitive tender. Dr Ann Robinson has been Principal GP at the Withnell Health Centre since 2013, but her partnership dissolved two years ago. Local residents are angry that the Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB has said it must now use competitive tendering to find a provider of practice services in Withnell.

Professor Craig Harris, Chief Operating Officer for NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB, said: “Based on consideration of all procurement routes and the associated published guidance, we believe that this is the option which will give the quickest route to securing the best outcome for Withnell Health Centre and its patients and staff.”