BMA reports on potentially unsafe GP care

Doctors’ leaders are reporting that the pressure on GPs is so great in England and Wales that they are concerned they are letting patients down and providing potentially unsafe care.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, the BMA’s GP leader, said that in order to keep up with demand, doctors were having to rush through their appointments, which could be dangerous in terms of identifying cancers and providing the right prescriptions.

The results come after an online survey of around 2,900 GP practices in England and 145 in Wales, which equates to around a third of the total number of practices in both countries.

The results from England showed that over half of doctors considered the service quality of their practice had deteriorated in the last 12 months. 92% said that demand had increased in the same period and 68% reported that their workload was unmanageable.

The results from Wales showed similar findings.

Dr Nagpaul said “It is unsustainable and getting to the point where it is not safe. The ageing population means many of our patients have multiple conditions and are on multiple medicines, but we simply don’t have the time to properly consider how they interact.

“On cancer we are having to make rushed decisions. And we are seeing growing numbers of patients with dementia – and yet just have 10 minutes to see them.

“It’s not enough. We are being forced to let down patients. We need to see more investment in general practice so we can keep up with demand and have longer 15-minute consultations.”