Calling GPs concerned about access changes ‘laggards’ is lazy, Wes Streeting

Editor Sofia Lind on why labelling GPs as ‘laggards’ while demanding increased access is no way to avoid dispute

At the BMA’s Special Representative Meeting (SRM) last weekend, health secretary Wes Streeting accused some GPs of being ‘laggards’ over new access requirements – while simultaneously pleading with the BMA to take his ‘olive branch’ rather than pursue industrial action.

Not only did he seemingly completely miss the point of what GPs are telling him (that they cannot sustain demand with current resources); in the same breath, he also urged GPs to ‘step up’ to lead the Government’s new neighbourhood health service.

Not a lot being asked then? From October, every practice will be contractually required to keep its phone lines, premises and online tools open throughout core hours. The policy is being billed to the public as a way of ending the ‘8am scramble’ and ensuring that patients can always get through. While GPs are not required to provide clinical advice to each patient, they will need to triage each request on the day.

To avoid missing serious urgent requests, the BMA has warned that these changes could force practices to create waiting lists for routine care, because there are no safeguards when demand outstrips capacity.

Streeting insists that the reforms are both achievable and overdue. He pointed out that the deadline was pushed back from April to October to give practices time, and urged GPs to ‘get with the 21st century’. For someone eager to keep GPs as ‘partners, not foes’ this language has grated.

The talk of ‘stepping up’ is condescending at any point in time, but when coupled with insufficient funding and the looming threat to GP autonomy under the 10-Year Plan, it is downright insulting.

If the Government genuinely wants reform to succeed, it must provide the resources and protections that practices need – in this case, an urgent discussion to implement those safeguards. Rhetoric about ‘laggards’ is lazy and risks alienating the profession, with patients caught in the middle when safe care can’t be guaranteed.

Tomorrow, at their regular meeting, the BMA’s GP Committee for England will have to decide whether the health secretary’s pleas to take the olive branch have landed well. If I were him, I would be getting on the phone today to consider offering safeguards as a matter of urgency – or I fear a return to dispute is inevitable.

Sofia Lind is editor of Pulse. Find her at [email protected] or on LinkedIn