More than 41,000 people have signed a letter urging the Government to ‘immediately fund’ GPs to help ‘avoid cutting down on appointments’.
Tens of thousands have written to health secretary Wes Streeting in support of a campaign created by Organise, a group championing better pay and conditions for workers.
The letter expressed concerns over ‘the current state of securing GP appointments in the UK’ and argued that Labour’s manifesto promises around GP access are ‘not possible’ to maintain without more funding.
It mentioned the Doctors’ Association UK’s call for the Government to invest £3 per month per patient into general practice to restore GP core funding.
The letter said: ‘During the election, the Labour government promised to end the 8am scramble by allowing patients to easily book appointments to see the doctor they want, in the manner they choose.
‘But it has been made very clear by Doctors’ Association UK that this is not possible under current funding. £35 extra will need to be spent on each patient every year to match funding levels from a decade ago.
‘Over 41,393 Organise members have joined the campaign calling on the Labour government to immediately fund GPs to help avoid cutting down on appointments.’
It comes after the BMA published its ‘safe-working guidance’ for GP practices, which the union said would lead to a ‘fall’ in appointment availability and some patients having to be seen elsewhere.
Labour’s manifesto promised to ‘bring back the family doctor’, and to ‘reform’ primary care, trialling ‘neighbourhood health centres’ which would have GPs and other community health staff ‘under one roof’, but it carried no immediate promises of increased investment in general practice.
Last month the Darzi review found that increased general practice funding is a ‘fundamental strategic shift’ required to save the NHS.
However, on announcing the review’s publication, the Prime Minister emphasised that there will be ‘no more money without reform’, despite Mr Streeting saying he is ‘committed to reversing’ the underfunding of general practice.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘This Government is determined to work with the NHS to fix the front door of our health service and we are listening to GPs.
‘As a first step we have cut red tape to allow surgeries to hire 1,000 more newly-qualified GPs and have increased funding for practices to manage rising pressures.’
In August, the health secretary added £82m to the £1.4bn ARRS pot to fund what he described as an ’emergency measure’, so that GPs were added to the scheme, in the hope practices will be able to hire 1,000 more doctors this year.
Today, Pulse reported on the BMA’s demand for the Treasury to increase GP core funding by ‘at least £40 per weighted patient’ – around £2.5bn – ahead of this year’s Autumn Budget.
