General practice is just as pressured as emergency departments, MPs hear

General practice in England is under as much pressure as hospital emergency departments are, and the narrow focus on solving problems in emergency services could undermine the NHS as a whole, MPs have been told.

During an evidence session of the parliamentary Health Committee’s inquiry into emergency services and care, MPs asked witnesses their views on whether the new processes for commissioning services for emergency and urgent care under the NHS reorganisation were fit for purpose.

Claire Gerada, chairwoman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said, “We must make sure that we commission an integrated approach to urgent …