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

 

Discriminatory language and behaviour in the workplace (19 Nov 2019)

At the end of October an ITV news interview provoked a lot of debate, after a surgeon of South Asian heritage revealed a patient had asked for a white...
Read more »

Pre-election period 2019 (19 Nov 2019)

What is “Purdah”? ‘Purdah’ or ‘the pre-election period’ refers to the weeks preceding a general election when specific restrictions apply principally around the activity of those working in central and...
Read more »

Hospitals discharging patients after missed appointments (19 Nov 2019)

Recent media reports have revealed large numbers of patients being discharged form hospital after a missed appointment, contrary to the NHS Standard Contract.  We all know that general practice...
Read more »

CNSGP – What is in, what is out and who do I approach for help? (19 Nov 2019)

The Clinical Negligence Scheme for General Practice (CNSGP) was introduced on 1 April 2019 and provides comprehensive indemnity for clinical negligence liabilities arising in NHS general practice in relation...
Read more »

Conference of England LMCs - 22 November 2019 (15 Nov 2019)

The Conference of England LMCs is on Friday 22 November. A full list of motions to be debated can be read here. Three motions are being proposed by LMCs...
Read more »

Registering for Central Alerting System (CAS) alerts (31 Oct 2019)

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Central Alerting System (CAS) is the national system for issuing patient safety alerts, important public health messages and other safety critical...
Read more »

Brexit update - October 2019 (23 Oct 2019)

On 8 October Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, released a statement on his department’s preparations for a ‘no-deal’ exit from the European Union....
Read more »

Physician – look after yourself (23 Oct 2019)

Following World Mental Health day earlier this month, Dr Richard Stacey from our GP support team looks at how clinicians can take better care of their own mental health. 10...
Read more »

Debt and Mental Health Evidence Form (DMHEF) (23 Oct 2019)

It will now be a contractual requirement for GPs to complete a Debt and Mental Health Evidence Form (DMHEF), for patients who have a mental health condition. GPs in England...
Read more »
Next Page »
« Previous Page