DOCTORS: WE WON’T TAKE ON ANY MORE PATIENTS

More than half of under-pressure GPs now want to close their lists

HALF of GPs want to close their lists to new patients.

They claim the drastic measure is needed so they can provide safe care to those already on their books.

Almost 1,900 senior family doctors took part in a survey organised by the British Medical Association and 54 per cent said they were at breaking point.

The union will now decide whether to call on all GP surgeries to temporarily close their lists in a show of protest against the Government. The BMA accuses ministers of failing to give enough cash to doctors overwhelmed by ever greater demand on their services.

GPs are also angry at being told to carry out more weekend and evening work without extra funding or staff. Closing their lists would be disastrous for patients either moving home or already without a GP. The poll shows that

huge workload, funding and recruitment problems have to be dealt with urgently, according to Richard Vautrey, who chairs the BMA’s GP committee.

‘The BMA is now calling on ministers to work with us to urgently address this growing crisis which is threatening to overwhelm general practice,’ he said.

‘We cannot allow a situation where patient safety is being compromised by a lack of political action.’

The BMA will first lobby for more funding and greater efforts to increase recruitment.

But a spokesman said ‘all options were on the table’ including calling on GPs to close their lists en masse.

Before a surgery can do so it must apply to NHS England and prove it has so many patients that care is being compromised.

Surgeries have an average of 7,800 patients on their lists, although some stretch to 10,000. The NHS gives them £150 a patient – no matter how many appointments they make.

Surgeries across England are struggling to cope with a recruitment crisis, driven by the fact many GPs are retiring in their 50s to avoid paying hefty taxes on their pension pots. They are not being replaced by younger doctors who are opting to pursue more ‘macho’ careers in surgery or cardiology.

The NHS has repeatedly tried to address the recruitment crisis and managers in some areas of England have offered GPs golden hellos with £20,000 to fill empty posts.

GPs say that morale in their profession is extremely low because of high workloads and lack of investment, which has affected their salaries.

They benefited hugely from a contract negotiated under Labour in 200 that saw average earnings soar above £100,000 for the first time despite opt-outs from evening and weekend work.

Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, said: ‘This survey illustrates powerfully how it is patients who are at risk from the mounting pressures on the NHS.

‘If GPs start to suspend patient registration on anything like the scale suggested here, many patients will be excluded from receiving essential care.

‘The causes are no mystery – the NHS lacks both the workforce and the financial resources it needs to meet rising demand.

‘The Government must face up to this challenge, be frank with the public about what needs to be done, and resource the NHS properly.’

In April last year, NHS bosses promised to alleviate the pressures with more money, proposals to help ease the workload and an extra 5,000 GPs.

But recent figures show the number of GPs is falling – not rising – with many retiring early or moving abroad.