BMJ 2013;347:f6291 doi: 10.1136/bmj.f6291 (Published 17 October 2013)
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NEWS GP confronts health minister over pressures of the job Gareth Iacobucci BMJ
The health minister Earl Howe has insisted that the government is “doing its best” to alleviate the workload strain on general practitioners, as GPs voiced their anger at the pressures being placed on practices in England.
In a speech to delegates at the Best Practice 2013 conference in Birmingham, Howe said that the government was conscious of the pressures being felt by the profession, which stemmed from increasing demand and current contractual targets. He said that upcoming negotiations over changes to GPs’ contracts would reflect a need to reduce bureaucracy. Best Practice is the new name for the conference of the National Association of Primary Care which brings together GPs, commissioners, practice managers, and others involved in delivering services in the community.
But after the speech, Jo Loughton, a GP from Northamptonshire, told the health minister that she was sceptical about the government’s intentions, and warned that they faced a “massive recruitment crisis” as more burnt out GPs sought early retirement or moved abroad. Loughton said, “I doubt very much that the government have any idea how hard I work. I’ve been a GP for 22 years, I’m quite passionate still about my job, despite being pretty pissed off with all of the changes that we’ve had to tolerate over the years. [But] I do not believe that our new contract is going to be good for us. Our experience to date is that generally it just grinds us further into the ground.” Loughton said that her two partners would soon be leaving her practice—one to retire and one to move to work in Australia. “I’m extremely worried that we’re not going to be able to recruit at all,” she said. “That’s the reality. I’m sorry but I actually do not believe that the government is addressing any of that.”
Responding to Loughton, Howe said, “Maybe I don’t know the day to day pressures that you suffer because I haven’t done your job. But I have met enough GPs telling me that they have never ever worked so hard in all their life. Anecdote has become evidence.
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“The government is doing its best to be on the case and I hope and believe you will see that whatever arrangements emerge from the current contract negotiations, you will see a recognition that we want to make your lives less cluttered and less burdensome and that we want to strengthen primary care.”
He added, “People are cynical about ministers and government, I understand that. But we have tasked Health Education England with the objective of getting 50% of medical graduates into general practice. We know that we need more GPs. The numbers of GPs are going up but not enough.”
Howe admitted that the Department of Health was at the mercy of the Treasury in its ability to invest new resources into primary care. “We recognise that if we’re going to achieve what we want to, we need to resource primary care. We need to lever in resources,” he said. But he added, “I don’t want to disguise the fact that we have the Treasury breathing down our backs.”
Richard Vautrey, deputy chairman of the BMA’s General Practitioners Committee, told the conference that workload was the “number one issue for GPs.” Speaking to the BMJ after his speech, Vautrey explained that the current situation was “unsustainable” for GPs, and could have an impact upon the quality of care being delivered.
“There is a real concern about the huge practice workload, and that they are going round the hamster wheel faster and faster just to maintain the same income for their practices and to maintain a level of quality they want to provide to their patients. “It’s just becoming unsustainable, and they fear that worse is yet to come. We really need to work with government to try and ensure that what was imposed last year isn’t replicated in future years,” he said. Cite this as: BMJ 2013;347:f6291 © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2013
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Page 1 of 1
News
NEWS GP confronts health minister over pressures of the job Gareth Iacobucci BMJ
The health minister Earl Howe has insisted that the government is “doing its best” to alleviate the workload strain on general practitioners, as GPs voiced their anger at the pressures being placed on practices in England.
In a speech to delegates at the Best Practice 2013 conference in Birmingham, Howe said that the government was conscious of the pressures being felt by the profession, which stemmed from increasing demand and current contractual targets. He said that upcoming negotiations over changes to GPs’ contracts would reflect a need to reduce bureaucracy. Best Practice is the new name for the conference of the National Association of Primary Care which brings together GPs, commissioners, practice managers, and others involved in delivering services in the community.
But after the speech, Jo Loughton, a GP from Northamptonshire, told the health minister that she was sceptical about the government’s intentions, and warned that they faced a “massive recruitment crisis” as more burnt out GPs sought early retirement or moved abroad. Loughton said, “I doubt very much that the government have any idea how hard I work. I’ve been a GP for 22 years, I’m quite passionate still about my job, despite being pretty pissed off with all of the changes that we’ve had to tolerate over the years. [But] I do not believe that our new contract is going to be good for us. Our experience to date is that generally it just grinds us further into the ground.” Loughton said that her two partners would soon be leaving her practice—one to retire and one to move to work in Australia. “I’m extremely worried that we’re not going to be able to recruit at all,” she said. “That’s the reality. I’m sorry but I actually do not believe that the government is addressing any of that.”
Responding to Loughton, Howe said, “Maybe I don’t know the day to day pressures that you suffer because I haven’t done your job. But I have met enough GPs telling me that they have never ever worked so hard in all their life. Anecdote has become evidence.
For personal use only: See rights and reprints http://www.bmj.com/permissions
“The government is doing its best to be on the case and I hope and believe you will see that whatever arrangements emerge from the current contract negotiations, you will see a recognition that we want to make your lives less cluttered and less burdensome and that we want to strengthen primary care.”
He added, “People are cynical about ministers and government, I understand that. But we have tasked Health Education England with the objective of getting 50% of medical graduates into general practice. We know that we need more GPs. The numbers of GPs are going up but not enough.”
Howe admitted that the Department of Health was at the mercy of the Treasury in its ability to invest new resources into primary care. “We recognise that if we’re going to achieve what we want to, we need to resource primary care. We need to lever in resources,” he said. But he added, “I don’t want to disguise the fact that we have the Treasury breathing down our backs.”
Richard Vautrey, deputy chairman of the BMA’s General Practitioners Committee, told the conference that workload was the “number one issue for GPs.” Speaking to the BMJ after his speech, Vautrey explained that the current situation was “unsustainable” for GPs, and could have an impact upon the quality of care being delivered.
“There is a real concern about the huge practice workload, and that they are going round the hamster wheel faster and faster just to maintain the same income for their practices and to maintain a level of quality they want to provide to their patients. “It’s just becoming unsustainable, and they fear that worse is yet to come. We really need to work with government to try and ensure that what was imposed last year isn’t replicated in future years,” he said. Cite this as: BMJ 2013;347:f6291 © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2013
Subscribe: http://www.bmj.com/subscribe
