Dear Mr Hunt and Mr Stevens,
We work in general practice in Tower Hamlets and wish to express our dismay with respect to the inadequate funding provided to our CCG with which to provide health care for the population of the borough.
Our population has grown by over 12.38% in the last four years while our allocation has increased by only 8.78%, meaning that our CCG has £12.5million less than it did five years ago. This is compounded by the fact that increases in population are not reflected in the allocation for two years meaning that we are looking after far more people than we are paid for. In addition, our population is very mobile meaning that many do not register with a GP, again skewing our population figures downwards.
We know that we are not alone in struggling to provide the health care that our population needs and deserves. We know that all over England the NHS, both primary and secondary care, is teetering on the brink of collapse, often only kept going by the goodwill of staff who go the extra mile due to dedication to the job.
This situation is not necessary.
We are the fifth largest economy in the world and, yet we have fewer doctors and nurses than the OECD average and fewer hospital beds. Despite this our NHS is the most cost-effective health care system in the developed world, though our lead has slipped since 2014 as austerity has bitten.
We are not asking simply for the formula to be re-designed to reflect deprivation and population mobility, though we do think that these factors are not weighted heavily enough. We do not wish to rob Peter to pay Paul.
The Government can afford to adequately fund our NHS and should do so. Patients should be able to trust that health workers are making decisions based on clinical need not on financial pressures.
Our publicly funded, publicly provided NHS, free at the point of delivery, is the envy of the world and was the number one issue in the last General Election.
The future of the NHS is in your hands.
Yours sincerely
Dr Jackie Applebee, chair Tower Hamlets LMC
Dr Shah Ali, GP and Tower Hamlets CCG board member
Dr Dilesh Patel, GP partner and commissioning facilitator, CCG Network 5
Dr Mayoor Agarwal, salaried GP
Dr Alison Smailes, GP partner at Chrisp Street Health Centre
Dr Emma Ovink, GP
Dr Anna Witt, GP
Dr Leon Clark, GP, Chair Tower Hamlets South East Locality Commissioning Forum
Dr Naureen Bhatti, GP and vice chair Tower Hamlets LMC
Dr Michael Berridge, GP
Dr Alex Bunn, GP
Dr Ameen Kamlana, GP
Beverley Fernando, Practice manager
Alison Mitchell, advanced nurse practitioner
Dr Sasha Abraham, GP
Dr Imrul Kayes, GP
Dr Mike Fitchett, GP
Dr Jo Richardson, GP
Dr JR Aiyengar, GP
Dr Archana Spahn, GP
Dr Matthew Noble, GP
Mostafa Farook, Practice manager
Susie Hannah, Practice manager
Saidur Rahman, IT administrator
Dr Rita Issa, GP registrar, BMA London Regional Council
Penny Louch, Nurse practitioner Partner
Dr Ben Hart, GP
Ian Jackson, Practice director, Chair, Practice Manager’s Forum
Dr Osman Bhatti, GP, Tower Hamlets CCG clinical board member
Dr Kathryn Basford, salaried GP
Dr Azita Shafei, GP
Dr Kirtikumar Shah, GP
Dr Kirsten Shirke, GP partner
Dr Judith Littlejohns, GP, Tower Hamlets CCG board member
Dr Ben Dougall, GP and Director GP Care Group, Chair of GP Network
Dr Barbara Roucayrol
Dr Sifot Ali, GP
Dr Kambiz Boomla, Senior Clinical Lecturer
Dr Kobir Ahmed, GP
Dr Liliana Risi, GP and clinical lead, prescribing and medicines optimisation
Mr Tahseen Chowdhury, Consultant
Dr Jim Cole, GP
Dr Savitha Pushparajah, GP partner
Gupinder Syan, Practice pharmacist
Ruth Waring, practice manager
Dr Gemma Eyres, GP Registrar
Dr Jennifer Eyres, GPST3
Dr Phillip Bennett-Richards, GP, Tower Hamlets GP Care Group chair
Dr Rosie Wellesley
Dr Shamira Bhikha
Dr Judith Main
Dr Sella Shanmugadasan, GP and chair, Locality Commissioning Group
Virginia Patania, Transformation partner, Tower Hamlets CCG board member
Dr Ashrafi, GP mental health lead for older adults
Sheila Rogers, practice manager
Dr Alison Arnott, GP
Dr Spyridon Symniakou, GP partner
Dr Naomi Beer, GP and Tower Hamlets LMC committee
Dr Tania Anastades, GP
Dr Jenny Read, GP
