GPs need support

Family doctors ‘over-stretched’

FAMILY DOCTORS are the bedrock of the health service, the first port of call for anyone suffering with an ailment or an undiagnosed medical condition.

But the treatment and working conditions of GPs are back under the spotlight after new analysis from Labour suggested patients are finding it increasingly hard to get appointments.

The British Medical Association says GPs are “worringly over-stretched”, as a result of rising patient demand combined with “years of underinvestment”.

The Department of Health says it is promising to recruit 5,000 more GPs by 2020. That aim is laudable – but just last week, the Royal College of GPs warned that the profession “could reach breaking point” unless progress on recruitment is accelerated, with the number of doctors in the system falling since September 2016.

The Government is clearly aware of the importance of GPs to the health service, hailing their vital role in ensuring patients get the right care at the right time.

But it is vital that fine words are backed up with genuine action. This is not just about recruiting new GPs, as important as that clearly is. It is about taking action to tackle workload pressures and improving conditions so that experienced, hardworking GPs do not leave the profession.

Concerningly, plans to remodel the way the NHS works over the next five years to meet a £22bn funding deficit place great emphasis on moving care out of hospitals and into the community. There is simply no chance this can succeed without proper funding and staffing for surgeries.