Following the recent BMA ballot, which you may have heard about in the press, we are writing to explain why we are taking this action, what this means for you and the future of General Practice.
For many years, the demand for GP appointments has been increasing, at the same time many services previously provided by hospitals have been moved to GPs without any shift in funding. The cost of running the GP practice has also increased significantly, with increases in bills and staffing costs that have not been fully reimbursed by Government. This chronic underfunding means we are unable to employ the number of staff needed to safely meet the increased demand, and it has reached the point it is no longer sustainable for GPs to continue working in this way.
Since 2015 we have seen 1600 Practices close or merge, there are 6 million more registered patients and 2000 fewer full time equivalent GPs across the country. We don’t want your GP surgery to be next. Funding is also significantly lower than 2018 levels, the core contract currently gives GPs only 30p per patient a day to provide your care. This means we will be focussing on the safety and stability of our service going forwards.
Collective action is about working to our contract, no longer doing unfunded or specialist work, to ensure safe care for you, our patients. You may have heard this referred to in the press as industrial action; this is factually incorrect. We will not be doing anything that compromises your safety, and we will not currently be going on strike. We will continue to see patients at levels that enable us to make safe decisions and can give you the time you need. We will also be referring you to the specialist services at the hospitals if we feel this is in you best interests, rather than managing complex care in general practice.
Over time we hope that working to our contract will result in those in power understanding the need for well-funded GP services, and that additional funding will allow us to employ more staff, therefore improving your GP access.
We hope this summary helps you understand that we are taking this action to ensure that general practice locally, in Devon and across England is there for our patients in years to come, and hope for your support.
