General practice will crumble if politicians impose unrealistic targets, says Stokes-Lampard

Politicians must not resort to “vote winning gimmicks” in an attempt to reduce waiting times for GP appointments, says Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP).

Speaking at the college’s annual conference in Liverpool on 24 October, she said that GPs must offer what patients need, “not what politicians want,” and warned politicians that, if “unrealistic targets are imposed on our profession, it will crumble.”

A survey of more than 1500 GPs in England, released at the conference, found that 60% of GPs reported …