General practice will crumble if politicians impose unrealistic targets, says Stokes-Lampard
BMJ 2019; 367 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l6199 (Published 24 October 2019) Cite this as: BMJ 2019;367:l6199
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 not having enough time to adequately assess patients, and over half (53%) thought that patient safety was being compromised because consultations were too short.
Of the GPs who had been involved in recruiting in the past year, over two thirds (68%) reported difficulties in recruiting a GP, and 65% said that it had been difficult to recruit a practice nurse. Just over half of respondents (53%) said that they were likely to be working in general practice in five years’ time.
Learning from history
Stokes-Lampard, who will stand down as RCGP chair at the end of her three year term on 23 November, said in her speech, “Do not take us for granted. Do not make any rash decisions about our service or introduce gimmicks that might be vote winners but would ultimately set back general practice 20 years.
“History has taught us that access targets in general practice do not work. We must learn from those lessons, not repeat them.”
She went on to say that, while more investment in general practice had been promised and more GPs were entering the profession, many GPs were still planning to leave. Her comments came as England’s health secretary, Matt Hancock, announced in the House of Commons on 23 October that 3530 GP trainees had been recruited this year—a record number.
But Stokes-Lampard highlighted that there were fewer full time equivalent GPs now than in 2015, when Jeremy Hunt, as health secretary, had promised 5000 extra GPs by 2020.1
“This is my call to politicians: do not rest on your laurels,” she said. “The nation worships the NHS, and we have seen from the recent party conferences that all major political parties recognise this—and both our health secretary and [the] head of the NHS have repeatedly talked of general practice as its bedrock. Trust us to be expert medical generalists and do what is best for our patients.”
Stokes-Lampard will soon take on a fresh role as chair of the new National Academy for Social Prescribing, a charity organisation set up by the UK government to develop best practice and training in social prescribing.2