David Oliver: We can support primary care without blaming hospital doctors

At the end of 2020, delegates at the local medical committee (LMC) conference of GPs backed a motion demanding “financial sanctions” against hospitals that failed to limit the “unfunded transfer of work to primary care.” They warned that the covid-19 pandemic had led to a major surge in tasks “dumped on GPs by hospitals.”1

As a hospital doctor working in acute care, I have great sympathy for GPs’ concerns. Primary care (GPs and other practice staff—notably nurses) does around 90% of NHS patient contacts for about 10% of the budget and an annual budget of around £155 (€179; $217) per patient on the practice list.2 A 2019 …