NHS England’s primary care director Dr Nikki Kanani has told GPs and their teams they are ‘valued and appreciated’, as new figures revealed a sharp increase in the number of GP consultations last month.
The appointment data for September, published today, showed a 20% increase in the overall number of GP consultations compared with August; well over half (56.6%) of which were carried out face to face.
Dr Kanani’s message to practices, which she published on Twitter, comes as NHS England landed itself in hot water last month with a ‘reminder’ to practices to offer face-to-face consultations despite the ongoing pandemic and NHS England’s own ‘total triage’ advice.
It also comes as GPs called for ‘more support’ from NHS England after a practice was attacked with anti-GP graffiti last weekend – an incident they linked to GP bashing in the mainstream media.
Dr Kanani said: ‘These figures show what many of us have known intimately throughout the pandemic, that our general practice teams – because it has been a teamwide effort – have been working incredibly hard to rapidly adapt how we offer care to make sure that we keep our patients and our staff safe, while maintaining services.
‘So we at NHSE and I want to take this opportunity to thank our staff and colleagues for everything they’ve done throughout he pandemic. We want to thank you for working late into the evening, chasing advice, completing Docman, taking extra time to check up on the patient on the shielding list, or reassure a patient when their appointment has changed.
‘We want to thank you for the amazing work you’ve done delivering flu vaccinations in new ways – in car parks and on weekends, often in pouring rain.
‘We want to specifically thank our practice managers, reception and admin staff, pharmacists, nurses, allied health professionals, social prescribers – because without you, general practice just doesn’t work.’
She added: ‘Our thanks to our colleagues from different ethnic backgrounds who have been understandably worried about their own health and for missing special family celebrations and festivals.
‘We know that you’re tired and we know that you’re doing the very best you can in an incredibly difficult time. So please make sure that you rest and recharge, knowing that you’re valued and appreciated by your NHS family.’
However, BMA GP Committee executive member Dr Krishna Kasaraneni pointed out that the increase in the number of consultations has taken place with fewer GPs and more patients.
And NHS clinical commissioners co-chair Dr Steve Kell said the consultations increase was ‘not sustainable’, asking: ‘What is NHS England doing about the workload?’
Earlier in the week, Dr Kanani joined the outpouring of support for the GP practice which was vandalised with graffiti.
Dr Kyle Roys, a Bristol GP who called for NHSE support following the graffiti attack, thanked Dr Kanani and asked whether NHS England would be approaching mainstream media with the message.
Additional reporting by Eleanor Philpotts and Costanza Pearce
READERS' COMMENTS [22]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYb_nqU_43w
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I had strings
But now I’m free
There are no strings on me……..
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hashtag thank you
prayer emoji
crayons at the ready
going for my gong
you couldn’t make this up
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TOO LATE, YOU’VE “BLOWN IT”……OUR OFFENCE CANNOT BE REVERSED…..
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‘So we at NHSE and I want to take this opportunity to thank our staff and colleagues for everything they’ve done throughout he pandemic.
….so you ******* should!!
How about really showing your gratitude by stop dumping stupid pointless crap on us and letting us spend any new money on what we know we need not what you think we need ?
How about it eh? !
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Twitter? Is the workforce deserved of Twitter? This is akin to Trump’s appeasing regurgitations. I’ll guarantee you less than 0.1% of the GP workforce saw this. Mimics Dame Clare Marx’s GMC email this week, telling us to “look after yourself”, or essentially you’ll be dead, or mentally deconstructed. But keep slaving away, and don’t make any mistakes or noise or we’ll have you and your family’s dreams wiped.
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9.8% of population / week consultation rate currently in our practice. No extra funding for this.
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Thanks do not pay the bills or the staff.Keep banging your pan Nilkki the rest of us are on a sinking ship.You are not immune from going down with it.
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Perhaps time for a (meaningful) apology for “the letter” in a new letter (leaked to the press the day before, obviously)?
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Hollow hypocrisy from an egocentric apparatchik
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Words are cheap. Which is why NHSE loves them (especially on Twitter where no-one else will hear them, and it won’t have any meaningful impact on GPs). We need more than words, surely that much is obvious? New leadership is needed, we are sailing k to the abyss.
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[…] und Warteräume völlig anders aussehen. Nationale Zahlen zeigen dies. Im September gab es 26,6 Millionen Termine in England – ein Anstieg von 20% gegenüber August. Von diesen waren 56% von Angesicht zu […]
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[…] свидетельствуют национальные цифры. В сентябре было 26,6 млн встреч в Англии – на 20% больше, чем в августе. Из них 56% были […]
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[…] and waiting rooms look starkly different. National figures show this. In September, there were 26.6m appointments in England – a 20% increase on August. Of these, 56% were face to […]
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[…] and waiting rooms look starkly different. National figures show this. In September, there were 26.6m appointments in England – a 20% increase on August. Of these, 56% were face to […]
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[…] and waiting rooms look starkly different. National figures show this. In September, there were 26.6m appointments in England – a 20% increase on August. Of these, 56% were face to […]
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[…] and waiting rooms look starkly different. National figures show this. In September, there were 26.6m appointments in England – a 20% increase on August. Of these, 56% were face to […]
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[…] sont radicalement différents. Les chiffres nationaux le montrent. En septembre, il y avait 26,6 millions de rendez-vous en Angleterre – une augmentation de 20% par rapport au mois d’août. Parmi ceux-ci, 56% […]
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[…] and waiting rooms look starkly different. National figures show this. In September, there were 26.6m appointments in England – a 20% increase on August. Of these, 56% were face to […]
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
[…] and waiting rooms look starkly different. National figures show this. In September, there were 26.6m appointments in England – a 20% increase on August. Of these, 56% were face to […]
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
[…] and waiting rooms look starkly different. National figures show this. In September, there were 26.6m appointments in England – a 20% increase on August. Of these, 56% were face to […]
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
[…] and waiting rooms look starkly different. National figures show this. In September, there were 26.6m appointments in England – a 20% increase on August. Of these, 56% were face to […]
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment