{"id":892,"date":"2021-09-04T10:45:04","date_gmt":"2021-09-04T09:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/dauks-letter-of-complaint-to-ipso\/"},"modified":"2021-09-04T10:45:04","modified_gmt":"2021-09-04T09:45:04","slug":"dauks-letter-of-complaint-to-ipso","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/dauks-letter-of-complaint-to-ipso\/","title":{"rendered":"DAUK’s letter of complaint to IPSO"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Click here to sign and add your support<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Read IPSO’s Response<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Dear Independent Press Standards Organisation,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 24 August 2021, Ms Pearson wrote an article entitled, \u201cGPs are improving their work-life balance while worsening the life-death balance of everyone else\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/columnists\/2021\/08\/24\/gps-improving-work-life-balance-worsening-life-death-balance\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subsequently, a further article was published on 1 September 2021 entitled \u201cTime to turn the heat up on GPs who won\u2019t see us face to face\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/columnists\/2021\/09\/01\/time-turn-heat-gps-wont-see-us-face-face\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In reference to the Editors’ Code of Practice, we wish to report breaches of the following sections of Clause 1 (Accuracy):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

i) The Press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information or images, including headlines not supported by the text.
ii) A significant inaccuracy, misleading statement or distortion must be corrected, promptly and with due prominence, and \u2014 where appropriate \u2014 an apology published. In cases involving IPSO, due prominence should be as required by the regulator.
iii) A fair opportunity to reply to significant inaccuracies should be given, when reasonably called for.
iv) The Press, while free to editorialise and campaign, must distinguish clearly between comment, conjecture and fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon reading both articles, our concerns about the nature of Ms Pearson\u2019s articles relate to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Ms Pearson\u2019s accusation that GPs are improving their work-life balance at the cost of \u2018everyone else\u2019 when the evidence shows the opposite in terms of burnout and stress. (\u201cGPs are improving their work-life balance while worsening the life-death balance of everyone else\u201d)<\/li>
  2. Ms Pearson\u2019s demeaning description of dedicated GP receptionists as \u201cGorgon gatekeeper\u201d<\/li>
  3. Ms Pearson\u2019s inaccurate suggestion that GPs are \u201chiding\u201d despite NHS data confirming they are providing more consultations than ever before. (\u201cThere is mounting anger that a highly-rewarded, once highly-respected profession continues to insist that it is \u201cfully open\u201d when personal experience suggests it is hiding behind an increasingly threadbare Covid sofa\u201d)<\/li>
  4. Ms Pearson\u2019s diminution of life-saving Covid measures that GP practices have been instructed to adopt, whilst also implying that GPs are deliberately unkind and inconsiderate. (\u201cHow about the doctors\u2019 union tries being \u201ckind and considerate\u201d to patients by not insisting on strict Covid measures\u201d)<\/li>
  5. Ms Pearson\u2019s inaccurate comment that the use of virtual consultations somehow precludes \u2018normal\u2019 face to face service. (\u201cAs long as social distancing is maintained in surgery waiting rooms, there will be no return to normal face-to-face service. I\u2019m sorry to say, that seems to suit a lot of GPs just fine\u2026..GPs who prefer not to see the men and women who pay their salaries\u201d) This is conjecture on Ms Pearson\u2019s part.<\/li>
  6. Ms Pearson\u2019s incitement of attacks and abuse against GPs and primary care workers by using inflammatory language like \u2018Time to turn the heat up\u2019 as though we were lobsters. (\u201cThe BMA seems shocked that long-suffering patients are finally losing it with doctors. I\u2019m not, are you?\u201d \u201cTime to turn the heat up on GPs who won\u2019t see us face to face\u201d)<\/li>
  7. Ms Pearson\u2019s potentially libellous statement that care from General Practice is \u201ccruel, negligent and, frankly, inhuman treatment\u201d<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Throughout Ms Pearson\u2019s articles, it appears that no GPs were interviewed and no professional medical bodies were approached for comment. We are also aware that this is not the first time Ms Pearson has been reported to the Independent Press Standards Organisation. This is neither the first time Ms Pearson has attacked GPs publicly nor is it the first complaint she will have received from frontline general practice. DAUK members have previously attempted to engage with The Telegraph and invite Ms Pearson to experience a typical day in General Practice, with no response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Responsible media reporting is a patient safety issue, for two main reasons:
    1) Patients who believe false rhetoric or conjecture may assume their surgery is closed, thus not seek help for serious symptoms. During the Covid pandemic we have already seen reduced rates of cancer diagnosis by around 40%, along with reduced presentations of other major non-Covid illnesses.
    2) Those patients who believe false rhetoric or conjecture may inappropriately use emergency departments and the NHS 111 helpline, adding further pressures on our secondary care colleagues at a critical time for the NHS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Important background information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    DAUK have publicly stated that NHS General Practice is in crisis. Contrary to inaccurate reports from Ms Pearson, GP practices have remained open throughout the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    GPs were instructed by NHS England to provide remote consultations when deemed appropriate for everyone\u2019s protection. GPs were also informed that if a single member of staff were to contract Covid, the entire practice would need to close for 10 days, jeopardising the care of thousands of patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    During a virtual consultation, if a GP deems that a patient needs a face-to-face assessment, they arrange for the patient to be seen. Meanwhile, many cases have been safely managed by virtual consultations, thus preventing countless possible cases of Covid transmission and avoidable deaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    However, it is clear that demand for GP services presently exceeds capacity. This is not the fault of our doctors, and we continue to appeal to our leaders for further support for our patients. Blaming GPs for the decimation of our workforce is akin to blaming lorry drivers for the shortage of lorry drivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The number of full-time equivalent GPs has fallen by almost 20 percent in recent years. We have far fewer GPs per 1000 people than comparable nations, whilst the scope of our work is increasingly extended without additional funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    GPs are doing their best to help patients within a broken system during unprecedented times. We are extremely disappointed by the lack of central and governmental support, and we agree that our patients deserve more from our NHS. Although 83 percent of our patients report a \u201cgood GP experience\u201d during the pandemic, we wish for this figure to be closer to 100. But with the mounting attacks against our profession led by Ms Pearson and her like-minded colleagues make it hard for us to succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Factual inaccuracies and negative portrayal of GPs in the press erode the trust that is vital in the doctor patient relationship. There is already an increase in physical, verbal and online abuse towards NHS staff and we are extremely concerned about the potential impact such journalism might have on the safety of NHS staff. We call for a formal response and apology from Ms Pearson. In the words of the NHS Five Year Forward View, if General Practice fails the NHS fails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Dr Jenny Vaughan
    Chair \u2013 Doctors\u2019 Association UK
    Press@dauk.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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