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70% of GPs think quality of care has declined

More than two thirds of GPs think the quality of care they are able to provide to patients has declined since the introduction of the NHS reforms.

A survey of 543 GPs, conducted by Cogora, which publishes Pulse, revealed that 68% of GPs think care has got worse in the past 18 months, with just 4% thinking the Health and Social Care Act has improved care.

But it also found that GPs believe staffing issues are not to blame for the low levels of care.

The survey states: ‘Surprisingly, even though some GPs quoted loss of district nurses as a contributing factor to the decreased quality of patient care, respondents in our survey did not rate current staff levels in their organisation as being dangerously low (median: 3, on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1=dangerously low).’

The same survey also found that morale amongst GPs was low, with a median score of 2 on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 was very low, and 5 was very high, and found that being overworked – followed by bureaucracy and pay – had the biggest impact on morale.

The report summary states: ‘Two years on from the 2012 Social and Health Care Act, there is still a lack of support for the Government’s NHS reforms amongst healthcare professionals.

‘The majority do not believe that the reforms have increased the quality of patient care, while more than half also believe that the quality of patient care has decreased over the past 18 months.’