The Family Doctor Association has warned that rural surgeries with three or fewer GPs in residence may face closure as the NHS attempts to save money. This would mean that many patients living in the countryside will be forced to travel to larger surgeries in their nearest town or city for check-ups and health queries.
Furthermore, GPs will no longer receive £164 million per year to fulfil administrative tasks such as updating patient files – instead, this money will be channelled into an incentives programme encouraging them to spot mental disorders such as dementia earlier. They will also reap financial rewards for aggressively treating chronic conditions such as high blood pressure.
These changes were revealed in December by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who believes that patients suffering from long-term conditions will receive better care as a result. However, several questions as to the validity of this claim have been raised.
Many surgeries in towns and cities are already struggling to keep up with the patients already on their books, with GPs often seeing 30 or so patients before their lunch break. Surely by further overcrowding their registries they would feel under pressure to shorten appointment times, therefore lowering the standard of care rather than increasing it?
Furthermore, despite the fact that GP surgeries fall under the umbrella of the NHS, they are in fact independent businesses where employees are paid depending on the amount of work they do – exactly the same as any other small firm. These changes will affect the level of pay received by GPs.
Finally, with GPs being pressured into diagnosing a specific list of conditions the personable nature of the local surgery is likely to be radically altered. Rather than talking to the patient about the full extent of their symptoms, an appointment is likely to be reduced to “box ticking” in an attempt to fit the condition to the prescribed “bonus” list.
Following the Health Secretary’s announcement in December, a 12 week consultation was launched to examine the plans. This ended earlier this week, with the results expected to be revealed soon.
However, the British Medical Association (BMA) claims that the Government “bypassed the negotiating process” by immediately entering into the consultation. It is firmly against the closures of rural surgeries, claiming that 25 per cent of practices have made the decision to reduce future patient appointments in light of Mr Hunt’s proposals.
Yet Lord Howe, health minister, says; “Our proposed changes to the GP contract are designed to improve the care offered to patients.
“The consultation – and hearing the views of GPs and other stakeholders – will help us decide how this can be achieved.”
Do you think closing rural practices is the most logical way for the NHS to save money, or could it perhaps have reduced certain other services first?
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