Employ more GPs

However, without employing more GPs and creating more appointments, the change has simply opened up an additional avenue for requesting an appointment. “Online forms are not appointments,” Dr Taylor said. Dr Taylor posted on social media highlighting that two practices recently visited by Mr Kinnock had temporarily switched off their online consultation systems early. One was at 6pm, and another stopped requests after 4.30pm, except for administrative queries.

BMA safeguards

Both were examples of safeguards recommended by the BMA, he said, but would put the surgeries in breach of the GP contract. Dr Taylor told LBC listeners most practices were doing ‘pretty well’ in delivering online access. He added that the profession wanted to offer an even better service, but was limited by a shortage of GPs. “GPs want to provide excellent access for their patients,” Dr Taylor said. “But the reality is that we’ve got too much demand and not enough GPs.”

GP appointments

General practice delivered around 40 million appointments in the last month alone, equivalent to two-thirds of the population, Dr Taylor said. But he added that many patients still struggled to book an appointment, particularly those who found digital systems difficult to navigate. “Around 25% of the population find online routes challenging or can’t use them at all,” he said. “Practices work hard to ensure phone lines and walk-ins are available, but without enough GPs, demand will always outstrip supply.”

Health Secretary

Asked how people who work in the NHS view Mr Streeting, Dr Taylor said many felt unheard by him. “I think we’re all a bit unhappy with him,” Dr Taylor said. “He talks well and is very amenable on breakfast shows and TV interviews. “But there’s a feeling he’s pushing through his way without listening to those on the ground.” “GPs are doing an amazing job under immense pressure. What we’re asking for is the resources to do it properly.” Listen again to Dr Taylor and Mr Streeting on LBC via the DAUK Instagram. All of our committee members are volunteers. They speak to the media and campaign on the issues facing doctors in their own time. Please support their work by joining DAUK or donating to our GoFundMe.

Clear and urgent

The message is clear and urgent: “If general practice fails, the NHS fails. Don’t let this happen on your watch.” The letter-writing campaign follows the imposition of a new GP contract variation from 1 October, which many GPs describe as ‘unsustainable’ and ‘unsafe’. The new requirements demand GP practices provide online access for patients without providing any corresponding increase in funding, staffing, or infrastructure. Dr Steve Taylor, GP co-lead at DAUK, said: “We have been increasingly concerned about the messages aimed at GPs from Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Health Minister Stephen Kinnock, and the Department of Health.

Increasing concern

“They have said this is just a few BMA leaders. However, we have heard nothing but increasing concern from colleagues and patients about these new requirements. “It is puzzling that the Government is using of phrases like ‘laggards’, ‘refuseniks’, and ‘museums’ in picking a fight with GPs, who are providing 20% more appointments than 10 years ago with fewer resources. “Yet when GPs express concern about the top-down imposition of contract changes leading to problems, they refuse to listen.

Safe patient care

“By getting people and GPs to write to Mr Streeting and their MPs we hope they will see it’s not just the BMA or LMCs, but grassroots GPs and patients who are worried about the future of general practice and safe patient care.” Dr Sarah Jacques, GP co-lead at DAUK, said: “This latest contract has been imposed without regard for the reality on the ground. “Practices are already stretched beyond safe capacity. Opening new, un-resourced access routes is not innovation, it’s destabilisation.

Staff burnout

“It will lead to longer waits, staff burnout, and could lead to more practice closures, leaving communities without essential care.” DAUK is asking GPs and members of the public to take two simple actions that take only a few minutes:

1. Write to their MP using DAUK’s pre-written letter here.
2. Add their signature to the same letter being sent collectively to the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting here.

Campaign organisers stress that participation is not limited to doctors.

Get involved

Dr Jacques said: “You don’t have to be a GP to get involved “If you care about the NHS and the safety of patient care, this is the moment to act.” The letter calls for:

1. A pause in the implementation of online access until full impact assessments and safety reviews are completed.
2. Proper resourcing for online access routes and service obligations. The GPs required to repair general practice exist – but the funding to employ them does not.
3. Support for a genuine dialogue with GP leaders, and actively listen to the concerns that we are sharing through them.

The letter concludes with a stark warning:

General practice

“This contract variation does not modernise general practice, it destabilises it. And once lost, the community-based model of family medicine that defines the NHS will not return.” It’s the latest stage in a long-running campaign by DAUK’s GP committee. The campaign aims to address the disconnect between policymakers and the realities faced by GPs. The committee is a non-profit group of volunteer GPs who advocate for general practitioners by addressing funding, workforce, and patient access and safety issues. Please support their work by joining DAUK or donating to our GoFundMe. They provide briefings for politicians and develops policy proposals for improving general practice. The committee also lobbied policy makers and Government. Members regularly raise awareness in the media of the ongoing GP crisis while countering misinformation and incorrect narratives around general practice.

Barriers

“We know being in work is important for people’s health, and people want to work. What is not mentioned are the barriers to this.” Dr Shire said that while job coaches can help with training and interview skills, many people with disabilities and long-term conditions need sustained, practical support to stay in employment. “People with long-term health conditions, disabilities, or impairments have a lot to offer employers, but many will need support in the workplace and employers may need support to keep that person in their job,” she said. “For example, someone with a hearing impairment might require a British Sign Language interpreter. Who will fund that?”

Access to Work

She added delays and rejections in the Government’s Access to Work scheme had already left many without the help they need. “Upskilling is helpful, but it’s not the only barrier preventing people from working. Who is going to provide the support long-term?” Dr Sarah Jacques, DAUK GP co-lead, raised logistical concerns about the proposal. “The DWP has been trying to do this for a while,” she said.

GP practices

“However, when I have spoken to my regional DWP, it hasn’t been able to have a presence in GP practices as there aren’t any spare rooms. “It also only has enough coaches to be in a surgery once a month. “On one occasion they wanted a delay in issuing a sick note until the patient had seen a job coach. “The coach was only going to be able to offer a handful of appointments each time they were present. “How am I going to reason with a patient that they may have to wait four weeks before they saw someone when they might not have any money to survive that four weeks? “Unless DWP is going to up capacity and GP surgeries turn into a Tardis, I don’t know how this is going to work.” DAUK committee members are all volunteers and campaign about issues facing doctors in their own time. Please support our work by joining DAUK or donating to our GoFundMe.

Care minister

In a now-deleted post on X, Stephen Kinnock MP encouraged patients to take action against practices not meeting these obligations. Dr Steve Taylor, DAUK GP co-lead, responded in an interview with Pulse. He said: “Stephen Kinnock has been told repeatedly that online access without safeguards for patients and increased GP capacity is a problem.” Dr Taylor said added: “GPs are not being luddites or trying to obstruct innovation, they have repeatedly increased capacity, but there are limits.

Raising expectations

‘Raising expectations without increasing capacity is a folly, worse it’s lying to patients and pretending that they are on the side of patients. “Hopefully people will see through the soundbites. But sadly GPs will be blamed, held responsible, some will leave, others will breach their contracts.” Read the article in full. DAUK committee members are all volunteers and speak to the media about issues facing frontline doctors in their own time. Please support our work by joining DAUK or donating to our GoFundMe.

Online access

During the pandemic, his practice trialled unlimited online access across core hours. Instead of easing pressure, it led to overwhelming demand. He said: “We just got inundated with increasing numbers of requests often some people repeating requests… so asking one question, then later on asking something else, and asking another. It became a problem.”

Top-down approach

Dr Taylor said the changes felt like ‘an imposed top-down approach’. They showed Mr Streeting hadn’t engaged with frontline concerns, he said. Dr Taylor highlighted that general practice has already delivered 8 million more appointments this year, four times the annual number of A&E attendances, but without additional resources.

Less funding

“It’s not shifting care from hospitals to the community, it’s asking community to do more with less funding.” Read Dr Taylor’s interview with doctors.net.uk in full. It follows his appearance on Sky News to discuss the issue. DAUK committee members are all volunteers and speak to the media about issues facing frontline doctors in their own time. Please support our work by joining DAUK or donating to our GoFundMe.

Face-to-face appointments

Speaking to GP Online, Dr Taylor said: “There is limited capacity of appointments and time, so with the increase in access requests this will have an effect on other parts of patient services. “This will include fewer face-to-face appointments, possibly waiting lists and fewer pre-booked appointments being offered.” Dr Taylor warned the policy could harm rather than improve patient care without investment in GP recruitment. “There are available GPs who are unemployed or underemployed,” he said. DAUK’s GP Committee has backed the BMA and the vote by GPs in England to enter into dispute with the Government over the changes. Read the article in full on GP Online. Meanwhile, members DAUK’s GP committee took to social media to counter comments by the Health Secretary Wes Streeting it was ‘absurd’ many patients can’t request appointments online.

Hair appointment

Mr Streeting said it was easier to get a hair appointment than a GP appointment. Dr Sarah Jacques, DAUK’s GP co-lead, commented on X, formerly known as Twitter, She said it was ‘strange’ to compare general practice to hairdressing. “I have to book a hairdresser 8 wks in advance,” she said. “There’s no squeezing me in for an emergency roots touch up if I need to look good for that pop-up family event when you know your mother-in-law is going to make some snide remark about your appearance!” Also posting on X, Dr Taylor said: “There are 102,000 hairdressers in England with 40,000 salons. 27,000 GPs with 6200 Surgeries. 31 million people visit GPs every month a similar number have haircuts “You can see the problem @wesstreeting.” DAUK committee members are all volunteers and campaign on issues facing frontline doctors in their own time. Please support our work by joining DAUK or donating to our GoFundMe.

GP shortage

However, he stressed the system still struggles to deliver timely appointments because of a shortage of GPs. Dr Taylor was speaking on Morning Glory Mike Graham on Talk TV. He said: “You can use it to book appointments, but there are only so many appointments. “It doesn’t solve the ultimate problem, which is getting access to a GP, and we’re short of GPs.” Dr Taylor, who is one of the 38 million registered users of the app, added that patients can usually see blood test results within two to three days, but warned that digital services can sometimes leave older people behind.

Discriminative

“It can be discriminative against older people, which is probably why they’re trying to open it up to carers so other people can access it for them,” he said. “But in certain relationships – tricky or even coercive ones – this could be a big problem.” Meanwhile, Dr Taylor has warned that millions of face-to-face appointments could be lost when new rules require practices to keep online consultation systems open throughout core hours from October. Speaking to GP Online, Dr Taylor said the change could overwhelm practices, forcing cuts to in-person care. He said: ‘There is limited capacity of appointments and time, so with the increase in access requests this will have an effect on other parts of patient services. “This will include fewer face-to-face appointments, possibly waiting lists and fewer pre-booked appointments being offered.”

Unemployed GPs

Dr Taylor warned the policy could harm rather than improve patient care without investment in GP recruitment. “There are available GPs who are unemployed or underemployed,” he said. Read the article in full on GP Online. DAUK committee members are all volunteers and campaign on issues facing frontline doctors in their own time. Please support our work by joining DAUK or donating to our GoFundMe.

Frontline GPs

“The Government has failed to listen to concerns from GPs. In particular, GPs who continue to work on the frontline are not being heard. “The most important thing being missed is genuine patient care while focusing on access. “GPs care about patients first but are not able to provide the care they need. “Top-down impositions from Government and NHS England, without the resources, are a recipe for disaster. “Also a one-size-fits-all solution won’t work, as urban parts of the country are so different from rural areas.

Listen to concerns

“It is vital that Wes Streeting and NHS leaders listen to concerns and don’t get into a fight with the very people who have provided 20% more appointments with less money and who want it to work better.” Changes to the GP contract are due to come into effect next month. They are intended to ‘free up’ the surgery phone lines to ‘end the 8am scramble’ enabling patients to make online consultation requests for non-urgent problems and queries, from 8am in the morning to 6.30pm in the evening, Monday to Friday. However, online systems cannot distinguish between non-urgent and urgent patient queries. GPs fear this could lead to potentially serious problems being missed when the important ‘needles’ get lost inside the huge haystack of unmet patient need.

Overstretched GPs

The BMA’s GP Committee believes allowing unlimited online requests without safety measures built in opens the floodgates to an already stretched GP workforce without increasing any practice capacity. In the first instance, GPC England will consider if any action could be taken to challenge the lawfulness of the Government’s position on necessary safety measures. Committee chair Dr Katie Bramall said: “We know that the public’s number one NHS priority is general practice, so it’s disappointing to see the Government being prepared to risk patient safety, practice workforce wellbeing and GP retention, when solving this would not cost a single penny. “GPs have a track record of being the first to embrace and embed technology in the NHS so long as it’s safe and fit for purpose, but imposing such changes on general practice, ignoring our repeated warnings will do the opposite of ‘bringing back the family doctor’.

All is not lost

“But all is not lost – we still have time in the coming days for Government to meet us halfway. “We will explore all options, but I’m sure our patients and the profession would rather we find a resolution in the coming days. We want to work with the Government in delivering an NHS that we know is safe.” DAUK committee members are all volunteers and campaign on issues facing frontline doctors in their own time. Please support our work by joining DAUK or donating to our GoFundMe.

We were reluctant to give these views more airtime, but the strength of feeling galvanised us to speak out against these damaging and outdated views.

Thomas spoke of the increasing number of female doctors in the UK workforce as problematic, because ‘of course, women have got to have babies. They’ve got to have time to bring up their children. What they do is they work part time and they job share and at the end of the day we have to educate two women to get one full time equivalent.’

He added that ‘in general practice, most of the women are working part-time and that is one of the reasons why patients cannot get access to the same GP all the time’.

General practice

Blaming the shift in workforce demographics as the reason patients cannot see their GP is a blinkered view which ignores the true complexity of general practice in 2025 – chiefly an increasing population, combined with underfunding, closing practices and a declining workforce. DAUK has campaigned extensively on this.

In general practice, women make up 53% of the GP workforce, and have one of the highest gender pay gaps of any UK profession. Research last year by the University of Manchester showed that the fall in full-time equivalent GPs was driven by male doctors reducing their working hours.

GPs are long overdue a rebrand in what is defined as part-time, but in terms of workload and admin burden, eight clinical sessions from 20 years ago is probably equivalent to about five sessions now, and this huge increase in unpaid overtime is reflected in the number of GPs of both sexes reducing their sessions.

Sexism in medicine

We know that sexism in medicine is rife, with 91% of women doctors responding to a BMA survey in 2021, reporting sexism at work. Women taking part said they suffered patronising comments, judgement on their appearance, and stifled career progression in favour of male colleagues. Assuming women doctors will all birth children and stop working is reductive, and fails to acknowledge the caring responsibilities doctors of both sexes hold – and should be supported with.

Rather than criticising women in medicine, we should celebrate their contribution and foster workplace cultures that enable all parents and caregivers to continue to provide excellent care. Research shows that patients treated by female surgeons experience better outcomes, and those cared for by female physicians have lower mortality rates.

Dr Matt Kneale, DAUK co-chair DAUK, said:

“Dr Thomas’s comments are out of touch and downright damaging. As a male doctor, I see every day how women in medicine carry the weight of patient care, often squeezing in work around the pressures of family life. Blaming maternity leave and part-time hours for NHS pressures is a smokescreen that distracts from the real issues of chronic underfunding, brutal rotas and virtually zero support. We should be striving to tear down barriers not slamming the door in women’s faces.”

Dr Sarah Matthews, vice-president MWF, said:

“Dr Thomas seems ill-informed as to the recent workforce data. This shows that in real terms there has been a decrease in full time equivalent GPs since 2015 of more than 1,000 and this is much more likely to be the reason why access to the GP has decreased over this last decade.

“We believe, contrary to his view, that bringing a higher proportion of women and looking for broad representation in the workforce to reflect the society it is treating, is something to be celebrated. He is looking back to a rose-tinted past; we stand for a positive future.”

Dr Sarah Jacques, DAUK GP lead and co-opted member for campaigns MWF, said:

“Dr Thomas’ remarks are not only outdated and offensive, they are dangerous. Denigrating women in the workplace, especially in public forums, helps legitimise a culture in which sexism is normalised and abuse is more likely to occur.

“Women in medicine already face significant structural barriers, including a persistent gender pay gap, limited access to flexible working opportunities, and underemployment. But beyond these challenges lies an often-overlooked reality: female health care professionals are at higher risk of domestic abuse.

“The Medical Women’s Federation and Doctors’ Association UK are working together on a campaign to raise awareness of this issue. The abuse of women does not happen in a vacuum—it is sustained by workplace cultures that tolerate misogyny and dismisses the lived experiences of women. Sexist remarks like those made by Dr Thomas contribute to an environment where abuse, both inside and outside the workplace, is more likely to be minimised or ignored.”

Dr Ellen Welch, DAUK co-chair and co-opted member for campaigns MWF, said:

“Part-time, flexible working is part of how our society functions today, and we need to embrace it and support it within a modern NHS, for both sexes. Commentators who feel women are culpable for the problems in the NHS show how out of touch they really are and both our organisations welcome the opportunity to present the above evidence on our workforce.”

Ms Helen Fernandes, DAUK co-chair DAUK said: “Dr Thomas should reflect carefully on his comments and rely on actual facts rather than biased, mis-held beliefs. He should perhaps look to the extensive support the Royal College of Surgeons has given female surgeons by creating WiNS (Women in Surgery) which encourages females to join the surgical workforce and supports their lifelong careers – including all things maternity and childcare related. As chair of WiNS for over 6 years this organisation went from strength to strength – despite the views of this long retired surgeon.”

Prof Jane Dacre, President MWF responded with this blog:

https://medicalwomensfederation.substack.com/p/there-is-still-hostility-towards?r=1l79cr

Please consider adding your signature to this open letter to the editor of The Independent written by GP and MWF member Dr Louise Clarke

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