Keywords
Citation
(2013), "General practice “crisis putting patients at risk, warns RCGP (Royal College General Practitioners) (United Kingdom)", Leadership in Health Services, Vol. 26 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHS.21126daa.007
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
General practice “crisis putting patients at risk, warns RCGP (Royal College General Practitioners) (United Kingdom)
Article Type:
News and views
From:
Leadership in Health Services, Volume 26, Issue 4
Keywords: Patient safety and healthcare reform, Pressures in delivery of primary healthcare, NHS
Rising pressure on general practice has left 85 per cent of GPs unable to guarantee safe care for their patients, an RCGP poll shows.
College leaders said the findings show the profession is in crisis, and demanded a 10 per cent rise in funding and 10,000 more GPs over the next decade.
More than half (55 per cent) of GPs carry out between 40 and 60 consultations a day, the survey of 258 GPs found.
A total of 46 per cent work at least 11 hours-a-day in their practice, with 84 per cent warning workload has risen sharply and 58 per cent reporting they work at least until 7pm.
Almost half of respondents (48 per cent) to the RCGP poll said patients now have to wait longer for a GP appointment.
A total of 93 per cent of GPs say the profession is more stressful now than it was five years ago, and a staggering 22 per cent reported they had to seek support, guidance or advice for work-related stress.
RCGP chairwoman Professor Clare Gerada said: ‘The results of this poll show that general practice is in a state of crisis.
"General practice is at the heart of the NHS, and if it starts to buckle, the whole of the health service starts to buckle and patient care in both primary and secondary care will suffer.
"The findings of this poll are truly shocking and they explode the myth, peddled by certain people in recent weeks, that GPs are somehow working less hard than other professionals across the health service.
“General practice has radically altered over the last five years, with ballooning workloads, and more and more patient consultations having to be crammed into an ever expanding working day – as the patient population grows older and increasingly suffers from an increasing range of ailments.
“The overwhelming pressure that many GPs now feel is leading to an upsurge in work-related stress and other health issues and we need to ensure that we can deliver safe care for all our patients. General practice must be given at least 10 per cent of the ring-fenced NHS budget.
The poll was conducted by pollsters Research Now on behalf of the RCGP. Of the 258 GPs who took part, 210 were from England, 25 from Scotland, 14 from Wales, and nine from Northern Ireland.
For more information: http://www.gponline.com