GPs ‘named and shamed’ if they fail to see patients
GP SURGERIES judged not to be holding enough face-to-face appointments with patients are to be ‘named and shamed’ in league tables – despite warnings it will lead to doctors quitting.
Practices that fail to hit targets will not get a share of £250million being made available so doctors can take on temporary staff to help them handle high winter demand.
Ministers hope the incentive plan can ease pressure as nearly 6million people await routine hospital treatment in England – the longest list on record.
In-person appointments were mostly suspended last year during lockdown and only 58 per cent of patients were seen face-to-face in August, compared to more than 80 per cent before the pandemic.
But doctors warn the plan could lead to longer waiting times, make it harder for patients to book appointments and lead to more doctors quitting the profession amid a shortage of GPs.
There was also anger at health secretary Sajid Javid when he cancelled an appearance at the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) conference in Liverpool. Delegates laughed as the RCGP’s Dr Michael Mulholland told them Mr Javid had said he was unable to even speak on videolink, despite finding time for a round of broadcast interviews.
He said the minister had explained he needed to ‘clear his diary to ensure he can fight for the NHS in the spending review, or be anywhere else you may have seen or heard him this morning’. RCGP head Prof Martin Marshall said the government’s plan was ‘definitely not the answer’. Dr Richard Vautrey, of the British Medical Association, said it ‘could sink the ship altogether’. But Mr Javid said ‘more data, and more transparency’ would raise standards.