The doctor won’t see you now...
FAMILY doctors will be able to turn away all but life-or-death patients under a new “traffic light” crisis management scheme to be forced through by Christmas.
The Sunday Express has obtained details of the new “black alert” plans being drawn up by members of the BMA’s General Practitioners Committee after the notion won unanimous approval at its Bournemouth conference last week.
It would see surgeries closing their doors in emergencies such as a flu epidemic, staff shortages or a cyber attack.
The controversial plan, which mimics a system already used in hospitals, has the support of the Royal College of GPs.
Sources say that the scheme, to be finalised in September, will not need Government
support to be introduced. Doctors say it is their only option to ensure a safe service after years of under-investment.
Under the plans a black alert would in effect close surgeries to all but life- ordeath cases such as those suffering severe chest pain and shortness of breath.
At the moment there is an average of one doctor to every 2,000 patients. Under the proposals a black alert could be called when this increases to one doctor for 3,500 patients for more than two days, when a GP does not have time to assess blood test results for more than two working days, cover 50 emergency appointments a day or cannot return calls within one day.
It could also occur if the online system crashes as occurred with the recent NHS cyber attack.
A red alert would mean GPs could see only urgent cases, such as patients who have blood in their urine or signs of a stomach ulcer. During an amber alert all non-essential medical testing and routine screening would be suspended and minor surgery postponed.
Patients would also be unable to access certain non-NHS services, such as HGV driving licence assessments, and private medical insurance letters, private prescriptions and travel vaccinations.
Even when the service is deemed “green” or “safe”, sources say non-urgent patients will still need to wait two to three weeks for an appointment.
This flies in the face of plans by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to offer extended GP access including evenings and weekends.
Dr Peter Holden, who put forward the concept of the new system at the BMA conference, said: “Every day we are beating our heads against a brick well trying to deal with an impossible workload.
“We are sick and tired of this nonsense. We are taking back control of the service and we urge other health care professions to join us.” He added: “We are all short of doctors and even if we could afford them we cannot even get locums.
“There is no magic doctor tree. Often there will be one or two of us doing the job of five people.
“There comes a point where you cannot do the impossible.
“This is about patient safety. We are introducing a system that indicates when it is not safe for us to carry on as normal.” His colleague Dr Zoe Norris said: “There has been huge support for this move from GPs who need to ensure patients are safe. Successive governments have ignored our concerns about lack of investment and dwindling GP numbers. This is now the only option we have left.”
The plan, which was voted for last week by BMA members including junior hospital doctors and consultants, included the caveat that it would be made “with or without the assistance of the Government”.
Dr Holden added: “Appointments cannot be at convenient times for patients, but when appointments are available consistent with their symptoms, and people have to realise this.”
The Department of Health said: “We recruited the highest number of GP trainees ever in 2016 and we are giving GPs the financial backing to support improvements with a £2.4billion increase in funding, so we expect them to deliver.”