Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has signalled that he has no interest in wholesale reorganisation of general practice in England.
In today’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the Government of having ‘broken the NHS’, leaving it ‘without a minimum level of service any day’.
Sir Keir attacked the Prime Minister for failing to promise ‘that people will get to see a doctor in a few days, like they did under Labour’, or that patients will get prompt cancer treatment.
In his response to questioning, Mr Sunak said: ‘I’ll tell you what the NHS doesn’t need. What they don’t need is Labour’s idea – Labour’s only idea – which is for another completely disruptive, top-down, unfunded reorganisation buying out every single GP contract.
‘Now these aren’t my words, Mr Speaker, the CEO of the Nuffield Trust said “it will cost a fortune and it’s out of date”.’
The Prime Minister also said he now is registered with an NHS GP, having refused to be drawn on this in an interview with the BBC on Sunday.
He told the House of Commons: ‘I am registered with an NHS GP. I have used independent healthcare in the past.’
Adding: ‘But the truth is, Mr Speaker, I’m proud to come from an NHS family, and that is why I’m passionately committed to protecting it with more funding, more doctors and nurses, and a clear plan to cut the waiting list.’
Sir Keir said: ‘I heard the Prime Minister say he is now registered with an NHS doctor, so he’ll soon enjoy the experience of waiting on hold every morning at 8am to get a GP appointment.
‘But I can tell him that those that are waiting now don’t want another round of empty promises, or boasting about what he has done. They just want to know when they’ll be able to see a doctor.’
The exchange, which comes amid the latest ambulance strike today, also saw the Prime Minister defending the Government’s plans to instate legislation which would mean public service staff could not go on strike without providing a minimum service level.
Last weekend, Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said he wants to ‘tear up’ the ‘murky, opaque’ GP contract, while considering abolishing the GP partnership model in favour of a salaried service.
GPs have reported being under unprecedented pressure this winter but Pulse revealed that ICBs are facing an uphill battle to reduce pressures as NHS England is blocking local attempts to suspend QOF.
Although GP leaders welcomed a Government announcement that CQC inspections will be reduced.
READERS' COMMENTS [5]
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What a bunch of imbecilic twits – Rishi and his gang doing all they can to demoralise GP from the right and now Kier doing what he can from the left – an almost perfect pincer movement the Wagner Group would be proud of. I can see GPs scattering in retreat – why wait for the big offensive, go now and don’t bother to regroup – surrender and take the pension.
A lot of us will caught between the Laurel and Hardy pincer attack of these 2 idiots.
There’s no denying a lot of GPs do seem to enjoy their portfolio,locum,sessional work, and they do not want the onerous
responsibilities of being a fulltime GP partner in a practice; so Keir Starman and Streeting are sort of just stating what is already going on and the likely ‘moving forward’ path for more and more GPs. The thing is how does an employed salaried GP service improve continuity of care for patients or their care pathway? maybe ‘Salaried GPs’ is seen by some MPs as a way to get more patients seen in a timely fashion and they feel this could be a way to control the work and the amount of work GPs do, wrongly.
Also,it is hard to see how this would improve the work of University Hospital Trusts, or things like the increasing 3-month wait by cancer patients or even the 9,000 general and acute hospital beds that have been lost since 2010: The Guardian blames the Tory government,which hampers seriously the work of GPs, nurses, A and E, ambulance workers queuing in hospital car parks
Just imagine sitting in your seat on an aircraft.
“Today your pilot will be Sunak or Starmer. “ A stampede for the exit would ensue.
Therefore, it has always amazed me that people eat up this sort of rubbish. Strategic direction based upon expert advice. Whereas tactical level technical decisions regarding service delivery.
It is ludicrous only accepted as it allows them to remain in a deluded state that the NHS can deliver more with less. They could then waste money on gambling, foreign holidays, luxuries, etc. A problem during energy crisis / failing economy is that they cannot afford the gambling and foreign holidays, luxuries that would usually buy them off. The politicians then have to be more inventive.
https://twitter.com/SimonTa95239529/status/1613168053944029185?s=20&t=53LuWjl4g3R8-uDVUu-ecQ