Patients at risk as GPs struggle to provide a safe service

A survey based on a poll of over 5,000 members of the British Medical Association, has found that 84 per cent of GPs are concerned that their high workload is affecting their standard of care and only 10 per cent believe they are able to offer a safe service.

GP surgeries are undergoing a recruitment crisis with up to three in ten doctors planning to leave or retire in the next five years. Very few are being trained and many are emigrating, leaving one in eight posts current empty.  Waiting times are the worst on record and patients are commonly having to wait for three to four weeks for an appointment.

One concern raised in the poll was that not enough funding is being provided to meet the needs of the ageing and rising population.

Chairman of the GP committee of the BMA, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, said “We cannot continue to have a service that cannot deliver a safe and effective level of care to the public.

“This major survey of more than 4,000 GPs in England demonstrates that GP practices across the country are struggling to provide safe, high-quality patient care because of unmanageable workload.

“Many practices are being overwhelmed by rising patient demand, contracting budgets and staff shortages, which has left them unable to deliver enough appointments and the specialist care many patients need.

“Addressing the crisis in general practice requires a clear strategy that tackles the numerous problems undermining GP services.

“We need an urgent expansion of the workforce in both practices and community-based teams, with GPs calling for an increased number of nurses to look after housebound patients and mental health workers to cope with growing demand in this area.

“Better information for patients about how to safely self-care and wider funding increases for general practice are also needed.”

Chairman of the Royal College of GPs, Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, said of the crippling workloads, “The relentlessness of the workload in general practice is a threat to our own health and our patients’ safety. GPs will see a total of 1.3 million patients today alone, and rising patient demand means GPs are carrying out more consultations than ever before – currently 370 million a year and 60 million more per year than even five years ago.”

Chadwick Lawrence’s specialist team of clinical negligence lawyers have years of experience in medical negligence compensation claims, and have obtained substantial compensation for our clients. Not only do we represent clients in Yorkshire, but because of our reputation we also represent clients nationally.

If you believe that you or a relative may have been injured as a result of clinical/medical negligence, please call for free legal advice from our medical negligence solicitors on the freephone number below.

Posted by Karen Motley, Paralegal, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (karenmotley@chadlaw.co.uk), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

Freephone : 0800 028 2969