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Statement on ‘New Deal for GPs’ speech 2015

Next day appointments, named GPs and seven day access are great ideas but alone will not deliver improved patient care. Another 5,000 GPs over five years will just about keep pace with current demand.

To be meaningful and have an impact, finance must first be made available up-front to allow GPs to manage existing workload. A recruitment campaign and targeted funding may help in part, but GPs are frustrated by increasing administrative burdens which limit and reduce their clinical time with patients. Our recent survey of London GPs shows significant numbers of practices anticipate early retirement of key staff within the next three years.

Each year in London the equivalent of fewer than 5,000 GPs handle over 50 million consultations and we need over 1.5 million more GP hours to deal with current demand. The government needs to properly fund existing services, cut red tape and manage patient expectation before pushing GPs to deliver even more with less.

The biggest challenge GPs and their teams in London face is declining morale resulting from increasing workload not matched by increases in workforce. We have seen massively increased demand at the doors of all our general practices as community, social and mental health services which used to support GPs have been dramatically reduced, and as we try to handle all the multiple conditions that accompany our diverse, often deprived, highly mobile and ageing society in the face of a diminishing workforce.

Last updated : 03 Jul 2015

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