The RCGP has warned GPs they have just 16 days to ‘save general practice’ and is calling for them to get as many people as possible to sign its Put patients first: back general practice petition.
The College have set the ambitious target of one million signatories, which it says can be achieved if every one of their 49,000 members enlists 20 supporters to the cause.
The deadline has been set at 15 August so that signatories can be counted before political party conferences begin, and members have been provided with Freepost envelopes to return signatures.
In a letter to members yesterday, RCGP chair Dr Maureen Baker said that, despite the widespread coverage of the campaign so far ‘there is still more to do in order to persuade politicians to ensure that investment in general practice is increased in each of the four UK nations’.
Dr Baker added: ‘Thousands of practices are already promoting the petition, which is fantastic. However, some practice managers have told us that they have not yet had the chance to put the petition out in their surgeries. So, please do check to make sure that your practice is promoting the petition proactively.’
‘The fact that we have asked for the petition booklets to be returned by 15 August, so that we can count the number of signatures in time for the political party conferences, means we now have just 16 days left to maximise our push to save general practice.’
Pulse has launched a Stop Practice Closures campaign, backed by the RCGP and other GP organisations, aimed at preserving practices under imminent threat of closure and securing long term sustainable investment.
