GP protest action to be coordinated

Local health boards have been warned that GPs may take “coordinated” action against the practice contract they have rejected this year. The BMA has now written to all ICBs in England, warning them to prepare for “industrial action”.

The letter calls for ICBs to hold discussions with local medical committees to understand what, “if any”, measures may be possible to mitigate against the effects of action. The LMCs should also be invited to discuss the full extent of pressures on practices and their vulnerabilities, according to the letter signed by Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, Chair of the BMA’s GP Committee in England.

Dr Bramall-Stainer said on social media: “Listen to the 99.2% of GPs who said ‘No’ in our GP referendum. Enough is enough.”

Fit note proposals gain mixed reaction

PM Rishi Sunak has attacked a so-called “sick note culture”, claiming that two-thirds of sick notes are issued for common mental health problems. The Times reported that he’s considering “stripping” GPs of the power to issue the notes. Sunak promised to create a system with “rapid access to specialised work and health support”.

GP leaders have given a mixed reaction to the latest Government plan to reform the fit note system. Professional representatives say they will support reforms that reduce the paperwork and demands placed on practices by the fit note system, but they object to proposals that might discriminate against people with mental health problems.

The Royal College of GPs Chair, Professor Kamila Hawthorne, said: “The College is supportive of a consultation to understand who is best placed to issue fit notes, given the workforce and workload pressures already faced by GPs. It is vital that if others become involved in this process that the best interests of the patient remain the priority for anyone involved in assessing someone’s ability to work – and that they are trained accordingly, with safeguards in place to ensure appropriate decisions are being made.”

Fundraising patients back GP fighting for practice

Patients have raised £4,000 for a fighting fund for a GP who faces losing her practice in a tendering process. Dr Ann Robinson is the only surviving GP from a partnership that used to run Withnell Health Centre, Chorley, Lancashire. Local health authorities insisted on putting the practice out to tender and Dr Robinson lost, narrowly, to a large practice conglomerate.

After a local outcry, the Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB has agreed to rerun the bidding process, but Dr Robinson will still have to compete to regain the practice.

Dr Robinson told the BBC: “It has been absolutely heartwarming – people’s generosity was genuinely humbling. It also shows the massive strength of feeling that people who haven’t got a lot of money during a cost-of-living crisis are willing to donate like this – and we are just so grateful for the support.”

New evidence about the benefits of continuity of care

Analysis of primary care data in Norway has found that patients with COPD faced a 47% increased mortality risk when they did not regularly see the same doctor. The researchers found similar effects for patients with diabetes and heart failure.

According to the research, published in the British Journal of General Practice, continuity of care is significant for many patients. Researchers from the National Centre for Emergency Primary Health Care, Bergen analysed the care of more than 125,000 patients for the study.