GP State of Emergency continues
Since April 2016 when GPs in London and across the country declared a GP State of Emergency, our campaign has been a great success. However, we recognise that the GP State of Emergency continues.
Patients still at risk
Patients still risk losing their GPs unless the pressures on general practice are dramatically and appropriately eased. We have produced emergency guidance, template letters, waiting room posters and videos for practice screens to help practices manage requests for unresourced work and communicate to patients about the activities that are not covered by the core contract.
Listening to what our practices need
As well as producing guidance throughout the campaign, we have listened to our practices. They told us that a significant number of appointments per week are classified as ‘did not attend’ (DNA) so we published emergency guidance on DNAs which has been downloaded 1,692 times as of today.
Practices told us that they receive frequent requests for medical letters and reports in support of housing applications. We published emergency guidance dealing with housing application requests, as well as a poster for waiting rooms, which has been downloaded 1,554 times as of today.
Overall, the dedicated campaign website, www.gpsoe.org.uk has been visited over 20,000 times since the campaign launched.
Working in the background
In addition to the work to directly support practices, we have:
- contacted Trusts about managing patient needs around fit notes
- contacted housing associations about requests for medical information to support housing applications
- written to TFL to ask them to change their advice to applicants for private hire licences about contacting GPs for urine screening for substance abuse
- contacted CCGs, the Association of London Directors of Children’s Services and the London Safeguarding Children’s Board about collaborative arrangements
- been in touch with MPs to inform them of the GP State of Emergency
- successfully engaged with patient participation groups (PPGs).
Spreading the word
We continue to use social media to spread the word about the campaign. You can use #GPStateOfEmergency to follow the work that is happening nationally. You can also keep up to date by following @LondonwideLMCs on Twitter or by visiting our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/LondonwideLMCs/.
There for you
We know that the GP State of Emergency continues. We know that whether you are a partner, a salaried GP or a freelance locum; whether you are a nurse, a manager, a member of the team, or a patient, you feel that general practice is on its knees and can’t take any more. This is why the campaign must go on. We will continue to add new resources to our dedicated website and keep the campaign going on your behalf.
Please visit www.gpsoe.org.uk to download your campaign material or email gpsoe@lmc.org.uk to give us your feedback on the campaign or let us know if there is anything we have missed.
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