The British Medical Association (BMA) recently announced that they are taking action on behalf of GPs so that they follow their exact working hours in a new work-to-rule action. This could reduce the number of appointments available in what is already a system struggling to cope with demands.
Following this announcement it has been reported that the number of appointments available could be reduced to one-third with some surgeries having already taken steps to reduce the number of patients each GP can see to 25 per day.
A recent survey carried out by NatCen’s BSA found that patient satisfaction is at an all time low with just 34% if patients feeling ‘very’ or ‘quite’ satisfied with the service.
The Chief Executive of patient watchdog, Louise Ansari, has stated she is worried about the action being taken, given the difficulties patients already face in trying to access face to face appointments.
GPs work-to-rule action
The action began on 1 August and offers GP’s 10 measures to chose from:
- Limiting daily patients to 25 – around a third fewer than normal
- Stop engaging with the e-referral and guidance service, which allows one GP to seek advice from another clinician
- Serve notice on any voluntary services currently undertaken that plug local commissioning gaps
- Switching off NHS software that allows discounted or free prescriptions for some people
- Referring patients directly to specialist care rather than following more complex NHS processes
- Refusing to share patient data unless it is in the best interests of a patient
- Withdraw permission for data sharing agreements that use data for secondary purposes
- Freeze sign-up to any new data sharing agreements or local system data sharing platforms
- Defer making any decisions to accept NHS pilot programmes
- Switching off GP software that allows coding into the GP clinical record by third-party providers
NHS England has also shared its concern over this new proposal, warning that it may push more people into seeking help from A&E or not seeking help at all with any delay in obtaining care having an impact upon physical and mental health.
Some GP’s have argued that by reducing the number of patients seen per day could prevent appointments being rushed and will provide patients with the time they need. On the other hand, a survey of 250 GP’s conducted by Pulse highlighted that one in four felt this action could cause harm in the short term.
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