The Doctors\u2019 Association UK (DAUK) has sent two books to MPs to highlight the crisis facing general practice.<\/p>\r\n
A copy of \u2018Why Can\u2019t I See My GP?\u2019 and \u2018The NHS: The Story so Far\u2019 have been sent to every member of the Health Select Committee, and to all MPs who are doctors.<\/p>\r\n
We’ve also sent them a letter and our updated manifesto<\/a>, which we believe will go a long way to easing the crisis in general practice.<\/p>\r\n The books have been written by Dr Ellen Welch, a GP and vice chair of DAUK.<\/p>\r\n Dr Welch said: \u201cGeneral practice has been in crisis for some time now. The primary care workforce is shrinking, with almost 2,000 fewer GPs than in 2015.<\/p>\r\n \u201cFunding for general practices has decreased by 20 per cent in the past eight years while workloads have increased. We\u2019re doing much more for much less.<\/p>\r\n \u201cOur estates are crumbling, our IT systems are falling down. The list goes on.<\/p>\r\n \u201cDespite this, an average 1.4 million GP appointments are delivered every working day.<\/p>\r\n \u201cImagine what we could do with proper investment in primary care.<\/p>\r\n \u201cWhich is why DAUK aims to put the crisis facing general practice high on the political agenda and provide workable and sustainable solutions.\u201d<\/p>\r\n It comes as Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced in the Daily Telegraph, plans for a mass expansion of GP services. The plans include training thousands more GPs, health visitors, and community nurses.<\/p>\r\n Dr Welch welcomed the focus on primary care but said it was \u2018a national scandal\u2019 that thousands of general practitioners are struggling to find work while the country is in a GP jobs crisis.<\/p>\r\n Dr Welch said: \u201cWe have trained and experienced GPs telling us they\u2019re working in supermarkets, driving taxis, and even signing on universal credit because there aren\u2019t any jobs for them.<\/p>\r\n \u201cFrom our own research, potentially there are around 3,500 full-time equivalent GPs available if the funding that\u2019s been cut from practices over the past eight to 10 years is restored.<\/p>\r\n \u201cIt\u2019s not a shortage of GPs, it\u2019s a shortage of funding, and it would take just \u00a335 per patient per year to solve.<\/p>\r\n Dr Steve Taylor, DAUK GP spokesperson, added: \u201cNHS England has moved funding into other roles via the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) at the expense of GPs. \u00a3100million has been invested in this scheme which has seen only 88 GPs employed.<\/p>\r\n \u201cIt would be used much more efficiently and effectively if general practices were free to use their budgets to meet the needs of their patients.\u201d<\/p>\r\n Dr Sarah Jacques, DAUK GP committee member, said \u201cThe use of ARRS staff was established to supposedly reduce the workload for GPs and improve patient care.<\/p>\r\n Unfortunately, most roles require supervision and have increased GP workload and fragmented patient care.<\/p>\r\n \u201cThe scheme is not cost efficient and not effective. The funding needs to go back into the core contract, so GPs can do what they do best by letting them provide holistic care with continuity.\u201d<\/p>\r\n Dr Lizzie Toberty, DAUK\u2019s GP lead, said \u2018We have huge concerns about the increase in National Insurance employer contributions on GP practices, with many already at risk of closure due to financial constraints.<\/p>\r\n \u201cGPs are the beating heart of the NHS and if more practices are forced to close it will be patients who ultimately suffer.\u201d<\/p>\r\n The book \u2018Why Can\u2019t I See My GP?\u2019 walks readers through the state of general practice with passionate testimony from GPs who live and breathe the NHS.<\/p>\r\n It is full of personal accounts from GP leaders including Dr David Wrigley, the deputy chair of the BMA GP committee; Dr Lizzie Toberty, GP lead for DAUK; and Dr Paul Evans, GP and chair of Gateshead and North Tyneside LMC.<\/p>\r\n \u2018Why Can\u2019t I See My GP?\u2019 by Dr Welch is published by Calon\/University of Wales Press. All royalties for the book are being donated to DAUK.<\/p>\r\n \u2018The NHS \u2013 The Story So Far\u2019\u00a0is published by Pen & Sword Books and traces\u00a0the history of\u00a0our health service, from Victorian healthcare and the early 20th century, through a timeline of change to the current day.<\/p>\r\n Support our work by\u00a0becoming a member<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0donating to our Go Fund Me<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n\r\n <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The Doctors\u2019 Association UK (DAUK) has sent two books to MPs to highlight the crisis facing general practice. A copy of \u2018Why Can\u2019t I See…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,59,58],"tags":[324,658,656,22,304,23],"class_list":["post-1321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dauk-news","category-general-practice","category-the-nhs","tag-dr-ellen-welch","tag-dr-lizzie-toberty","tag-dr-sarah-jacques","tag-dr-steve-taylor","tag-gp-committee","tag-gp-crisis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}GP crisis<\/h3>\r\n
GP crisis solutions<\/h3>\r\n
GP funding<\/h3>\r\n
ARRS staff<\/h3>\r\n
Why Can\u2019t I See My GP?<\/h3>\r\n
\r\nDAUK\u2019s 10-point manifesto for general practice:<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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