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GPs must be prepared to take collective action, warns GPC deputy chair

GPs must be prepared to take collective action, warns GPC deputy chair

GPs must be prepared to stand united behind industrial action if needed, the deputy GPC chair said in his opening speech to the England LMC conference today.

GPs have to go back to seeing only 25-35 patients per day to protect their wellbeing, and if this can’t be delivered, standing ‘united as a profession’ in industrial action will be necessary, he warned.

To that end, LMCs need to ‘go out and ask what action our colleagues are prepared to take’.

‘We need activists in every LMC who can build support and understanding of industrial action, so we can turn back on the light at the end of the tunnel.’

England needs ‘a general practice that cares for the wellbeing of its staff, as much as its staff care for the
wellbeing of their patients’ and allows GPs to ‘thrive’, he said.

Before the pandemic, GPs delivered 24 million appointments each month but the latest statistics today revealed GPs delivered 36 million appointments in just one month this October.

BMA surveying of GPs have shown they ‘frequently undertake 60, 70, 80, 90 consultations per day’ each, Dr Sharrock said.

‘This is not safe for you. This is not safe for your colleagues. This not safe for your patients’, he emphasised.

’25 to 35 contacts per day per GP is what is safe, so for our wellbeing, and that of our patients, we have to find a way to return to this safe level of work’.

The BMA last month suggested that they way to return to safe appointment levels is by moving to a waiting list system.

And today, Dr Sharrock said: ‘To achieve this target we may have to open up our appointment books, and book patients further in advance.

‘We know that there are anxieties about taking such measures, and the impact it can have on patients. But we are the only ones who can take action to control our workload, protect our wellbeing, and guarantee the safety of the care we are delivering to our patients.

‘We need your help, the help of LMCs, to engage with the practices in your areas to support them
if they want to implement this change. We must all work together to protect the wellbeing of our
GP colleagues, practice staff, and patients.’

The record number of appointments comes despite GP numbers shrinking by 1,900 since 2015 instead of the thousands extra GPs promised by the Government, Dr Sharrock pointed out.

And he said: ‘Increased workload, reduced workforce, and negative rhetoric leads to cumulative strain on our wellbeing.

‘We know all too well the tell-tale signs of being overworked and beginnings of burnout: we leave our practices late, exhausted and drained.

‘Two-thirds of GPs report suffering from either depression, anxiety, stress, burnout, or emotional distress linked to their work.

To that end, the GPC intends to continue to focus on GP wellbeing, he said, because ‘we know that this trajectory for general practice cannot continue if it is to survive’.

Referring to the tragic case of Dr Gail Milligan earlier this year, he warned that she was not the only colleague overwhelmed by general practice workload.

‘The death of Dr Gail Milligan earlier this year was not the first in general practice. We have a duty to
remember Gail and other colleagues, by taking every effort to protect the wellbeing of all our
colleagues in general practice,’ he said.

He went onto say that key to solving the workload issues lies in reforming the GP contract by reducing bureaucracy and ending the chase of ‘pots of money’.

‘To this end, in upcoming contractual negotiations for 2023, and particularly 2024, we will be
prioritising reducing bureaucracy at every turn and increasing flexibilities. To allow you as highly
trained professionals to exercise your professional judgement over the most effective way to deliver
services.’

The England LMCs conference will be voting on a vast number of motions today, setting the direction of the GPC’s work for the year.

These include whether all GP practices should declare themselves to the CQC as ‘requires improvement’ to highlight the unsafe levels of care being caused by the lack of doctors.

The conference will also debate cutting core hours to 9-5, as the current requirements discriminate against GPs who want to have families and, as a result of the ‘still patriarchal society’, against female GPs especially.

Tomorrow, behind closed doors, LMCs will also be debating key priorities for the upcoming GP contract negotiations, including controversial proposals to go private or ending patient lists.

Dr Sharrock said: ‘We need a contract which enables us to effectively manage our workload, so we can provide high quality, continuity of care which we know patients value above everything.

‘Continuity of care is valued by patients, valued by GPs, and is the most valuable principle of general practice. This principle has been eroded by unrelenting workload. We must ensure any new contract puts
continuity above targets.’

But if this is not delivered by Government, GPs will need to be prepared to act through industrial action, Dr Sharrock emphasised.

He said: ‘General practice cannot continue on its current trajectory if it is to survive. If we cannot agree with the Government a contract that delivers, then we must be prepared to take collective action to
protect the bedrock of the NHS, which is general practice.

‘To make progress we must be united as a profession. We must be cohesive as a profession. We must
speak with one voice as a profession. We are far stronger together as a profession.’

More than 4,000 GPs in Madrid have launched an ‘indefinite strike’ this week, after their health union said it had become ‘normalised’ for GPs to see ‘more than 50 or 60 patients’ in their working day.


          

READERS' COMMENTS [5]

Please note, only GPs are permitted to add comments to articles

David Church 24 November, 2022 12:14 pm

Just unilaterally draw up the new contract for GMS for 2023-4, and present it to Government?

Turn out The Lights 24 November, 2022 1:47 pm

Maybe a Madrid approach..

Cameron Wilson 24 November, 2022 2:13 pm

David Church- absolutely spot on!

Patrufini Duffy 24 November, 2022 4:35 pm

You’ll have no one interested in a dry outdated contract soon – maybe it’s the plan? Go sell it to a 17 year old applying for medical school or 31 year old newbie. I said to them, be smarter.

Turn out The Lights 25 November, 2022 8:26 am

If nothing changes we will just continue the quietly quitting approach.