MPs should visit local general practices, says BMA

The BMA is inviting MPs to visit general practices in their constituencies to see how the NHS operates locally and to talk to practice staff about their priorities and concerns.

Laurence Buckman, chairman of the BMA’s General Practitioners Committee, has written to MPs inviting them to spend time in a local practice to find out how general practice works in their area. The BMA previously ran a GP visit scheme in July 2010, during which over 150 MPs visited their local surgery.

The initiative is part of a campaign to help GPs in England talk to patients about the current issues affecting the NHS and the future of general practice. The campaign also includes a website, www.changingnhs.com, which describes the changes to the NHS in England and to the GP contract and the debate about out of hours services.

The campaign also includes a poster for GPs in England to display in their practices inviting patients to use the website to learn the “real story” about the reorganisation of the NHS.

Buckman said that general practice was facing a “testing time” as it dealt with the introduction of clinical commissioning groups, changes to the GP contract, and pressure on out of hours services. “GPs feel that our patients aren’t getting the real story about what is happening in the NHS, which is why the BMA is launching this initiative,” he said. “In a turbulent world it is vital that GPs play a key role in giving patients the information they need about how their NHS is changing.”