GP partners vote in favour of collective action

GP partners in England have voted to participate in collective action to protest against contractual terms and funding.

The non-statutory ballot, which concluded on Monday (29th  July), resulted in 98.3% of GP partners voting in favour and 1.7% voting against. Nearly 8,500 GP partners participated in the vote, representing 67.7% of those eligible.

The action commences on the 1st August, and GP practices can select from 10 different actions outlined by the BMA.

Furthermore,  Wes Streeting, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has announced the Government would temporarily add GPs to ARRS this year as an ’emergency measure’.

CQC shake-up pledge

Practices have welcomed plans for a shake-up of the CQC after a review found major failings. Investigators found a lack of clinical expertise among inspectors and inadequate consistency in assessments. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he was “stunned” by the findings of the report by Dr Penny Dash, Chair of the North West London ICB.

The IGPM said the findings echoed the experience of Practice Managers and that it had raised similar issues with the CQC and now hoped to speak to Dr Dash. It said: “Unfortunately, it would seem this has done nothing to improve any consistency of inspection. Inspections cause untold stress to Practice Managers, their clinicians and team. This has to change.”

Royal College of GPs Chair, Professor Kamila Hawthorne, said: “There is a considerable strength of feeling amongst our membership that many of the CQC’s processes are ineffective, and in some cases discriminatory against practices run by GPs from ethnic minorities, and we have raised these concerns with the CQC at the highest of levels.”

Hope for end to trainee doctor strikes

GP trainee strikes are expected to end following a deal between the medical unions and the Government.

The BMA is putting the proposals to a ballot with a recommendation to accept them. They include proposals to rename hospital doctors in training as “resident doctors”.

The deal means that doctors in training will get, on average, a 22.3% pay increase for last year and this year. It is achieved by a 4% increase in last year’s pay together with 8% this year, recommended by the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration Body.

New pledge to “fix” primary care

The data for June shows continuing pressure on primary care services, with a small improvement in patients not attending for practice appointments and 70% of appointments taking place within a week of their being booked.

Health Minister Stephen Kinnock said: “It is our goal to ensure that everyone is able to access their GP in the way they choose – whether face-to-face or online – as part of our plan to make the NHS fit for the future. We will fix the front door of the NHS and bring back the family doctor, so patients with ongoing and complex conditions can be treated more effectively. Alongside this, we will also make the future of general practice sustainable by ensuring we train thousands more GPs and shift the focus of care out of hospitals and into the community.”

Extra cash for practices opens a way for funding talks

Practices are set to get a 6% increase in earnings in 2024 in a move that the Government hopes will defuse the growing dispute over the contract imposed earlier this year.

The BMA said GPs will be “deeply disappointed”, although the proposal is a “step in the right direction”. BMA leaders were expected to meet today to discuss the result of the GP vote on protest action, which concluded on Tuesday. The results have been kept under wraps and GPs may delay action to allow for talks with the new Government.

At the same time, the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration Body announced its recommendations for doctors’ pay. The proposed 6% would mean practices getting an extra 4.1% on top of the 1.9% announced in April, which, at the time, led to the vote on protest action.

Why new mothers seek repeated appointments

Practices can expect an average of three visits from new mothers seeking help with their own health in the three months after they give birth.

London-based researchers set out to identify the reasons for these visits in a study reported in the British Journal of General Practice. The analysis is thought to be the first to use practice data to study this issue, examining 900,000 visits and allowing researchers to identify exactly why new mothers seek help from practices.

This showed a difference between older and younger women. The older mothers were often seeking help with existing health needs such as asthma or diabetes while the younger ones were likely to attend to discuss contraception, vaccination and preventative care.

Beads in jars highlight screening successes

Practices in Derbyshire have introduced “screening jars” to help them track contacts with patients over cancer screening. Staff add beads to the jars when they successfully persuade a patient to attend for screening, and it identifies a health need that needs further investigation. The jars are being displayed in nine practices run by Royal Primary Care Derbyshire.

Vicki Kelly, who leads the team that undertakes patient chase-ups for screening, said: “Every time we manage to get someone to attend their screening appointment and their results come back as abnormal, then we know it is something that needs to be followed up and we mark this by adding a colourful bead to our Bowel, Breast or Cervical screening jars.”