London general: 70 years of improving life in the Capital

NHS general practice is celebrating its 70th birthday, which is a major milestone in the history of British medicine. The availability of general practice to Londoners (8m of us in 1948, 9m now, but as few as 6.5m in the 1990s) has been the bedrock of the NHS since its founding, providing cradle-to-grave care to all families, including those in the most deprived communities.
 
With 90% of NHS contacts taking place in general practice, GPs and practice teams are the face of the NHS throughout the Capital. Recently the Government announced a £20bn investment in the NHS, but from past experience little of this will reach the frontline of general practice. It is likely to be, as with much of our history, the hard work and dedication of the whole team working inside each GP surgery that delivers the next 70 years’ of success. So, on this significant birthday I would like to reflect on what general practice has achieved.
 
Universal coverage
 
Thanks to the development of NHS general practice, more and more people are now in regular contact with their GP:
 
Eradicating disease
 
Before the NHS many people were dying from preventable ailments such as diphtheria or tetanus. Today the children have access to universal vaccination programmes, delivered by general practice:
 
Longer lives
 
Average lifespans have grown substantially since 1948, with the work of general practice meaning far more people are living decades beyond retirement age:
A diverse workforce
 
Over the past 70 years, the NHS has transformed into being among the most diverse workforces in the world, currently a quarter of NHS staff working in London are from outside the UK and general practice draws its talent from across the globe:
The enduring role of the family doctor
 
These achievements are impressive and a testament to the way general practice has developed with the NHS, but the values of general practice have rightly remained the same. A report from 1948, titled Public Health in 1948: Remarkable Statistics: the first months of the National Health Service paints a picture that GPs and practice teams would recognise today, although now we do have equal numbers of “his” and “hers”:
 
“The success of the family doctor service depends primarily on the family doctor's relationship with his patients and that is not changed merely by an alteration in the method of payment for service. The administration required is far less than in the other branches. The service has been extremely popular with the public and it seems that despite the size of the undertaking and despite the uneven distribution of load which follows from the present distribution of doctors, the family doctors carried it successfully through its first year.”
 
The clinical team is made up of GPs, nurses, advanced practitioners, healthcare assistants and numerous new roles delivers so much more than the sum of its parts. Triaging, advice on self-care, diabetes management and many other tasks have been passed from GPs to skilled colleagues. The support they received from practice managers, administrators and reception staff enables the clinical team to take on these wider roles and helps to relieve much of the bureaucratic load which the powers-that-be choose to impose.
Last updated : 05 Jul 2018

 

Tips of the month January 2020 (20 Jan 2020)

We provide weekly tips based on common queries which come through to us from London GPs and practice teams. These are shared via social media and collated for...
Read more »

Workforce survey autumn 2019 initial findings (20 Jan 2020)

388 people working across 328 GP practices responded to the survey, representing 28% of the practices in the Londonwide LMCs’ area. Half of responding practices have vacancies for any role,...
Read more »

GPC regional representative elections 2020 (20 Jan 2020)

Nominations are open for the election of GPC regional representatives for 2020-2023 for two of the London GPC regional constituencies.  Constituency: Brent, Harrow, Hillingdon, Ealing, Hammersmith & Hounslow. Dr Michelle...
Read more »

PCSE online accound for the Performers List - important information for individual GPs and practices (13 Jan 2020)

The new Primary Care Support England (PCSE) online service for submitting Performer List (PL) applications and changes is now live and replaces the old paper forms. The BMA’s General Practitioners...
Read more »

London general election 2019 update (18 Dec 2019)

Following the 12 December General Election, London has thirteen new MPs – many of whom have strong local government connections and experience.  Dr Michelle Drage, Londonwide LMCs’ Chief Executive, will...
Read more »

Tips of the month December 2019 (17 Dec 2019)

We provide weekly tips based on common queries which come through to us from London GPs and practice teams. These are shared via social media and collated for...
Read more »

BMA pension records survey (16 Dec 2019)

The BMA are in the process of creating a Pensions Modeller for GPs. Tony Goldstone, who is building the modeller, has set up a five-minute survey to help determine how...
Read more »
Next Page »
« Previous Page