General practice is the bedrock and the foundation of the NHS. GPs are the frontline of the NHS, handling approximately 90% of patient interactions within the healthcare system. When General Practice works well, the NHS works well. However, General Practice has been under intense pressure since Covid. Unfortunately, the government hasn’t invested sufficient resources into supporting general practice.
Conditions are such that many newly qualified GPs are not choosing to take up posts in General Practice and many experienced GPs are retiring early. This is making the service even more strained.
In addition, the demand on GPs has steadily increased, leading to a situation where too often we are seeing 40-60 patients per day, far exceeding what is considered safe and sustainable. This excessive workload is not only detrimental to patient safety but also to the mental and physical health of GPs themselves. GP partners at Mountwood are routinely working 10+ hour days to cope with the huge demands.
Because of this the General Practice division of the BMA has balloted GP partner members and the result has been an overwhelming decision to take collective action in an effort to persuade the government to discuss designing a new and better contract that will safeguard and improve general practice for the future.
The existing contract with the NHS is inadequate in addressing the challenges faced by GPs. By negotiating better terms, the aim is to create a more sustainable and rewarding environment for GPs, which in turn would lead to better patient outcomes.
The primary goals of this action are to ensure that General Practice is prioritised within the NHS, to secure increased investment in primary care, and to address the critical issues that are currently affecting the profession.
One of the key issues is that any new contract must guarantee better reimbursement rates for GPs, so that they can pay their staff a decent wage and manage the rising costs of delivering care
The BMA has advised that to ensure safe and sustainable care we should limit the number of GP appointments to 25 per day. By reducing the number of appointments to 25 per day, we would have more time to spend with each patient. This should lead to improved patient outcomes and greater patient satisfaction.
Please be assured that we are committed to providing you with the highest quality of care. Any action we take has the best interests of you, the patient, in mind and will hopefully lead to a far better GP service and patient experience