GP home visits must remain
A BID by GPS to end home visits will be blocked by a Conservative government, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed.
Doctors had voted to remove home visits from their core work at the Local Medical Committee England Conference on Friday, arguing they no longer have the capacity to offer them.
But the Health Secretary has warned GPS the idea was “a complete non-starter” and he was strongly opposed to the proposal.
It comes as the Government has unveiled plans for 50 million extra GP visits in the next five years and recruit an extra 6,000 doctors. Mr Hancock said: “The idea that people shouldn’t be able, when they need it, to have a home visit from a GP is a complete non-starter and it won’t succeed in their negotiations.”
Asked if home visits should be carried out by other medical professionals such as paramedics, Mr Hancock said on some occasions a GP is needed.
“Sometimes it should be somebody else, and indeed most home visits are done by nurses and that’s right, but sometimes you need the GP,” he said.