GPs operating in blame culture, GPC chair says

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the General Practitioners Committee (GPC) has warned that GPs are working in an ‘unforgiving climate of blame’, as a result of having to deal with pressure from litigation and the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Nagpaul made the comment at the British Medical Association’s Annual Representatives Meeting in Belfast, and highlighted that ‘pressures on general practice have sunk to new depths since last year's meeting.’

In his speech the GPC chair cited a number of statistics, including: ’70 million more patients seeing us annually compared to seven years ago and with fewer GPs per head which is drowning our capacity to cope.’; ’a record 201 surgeries closed last year – the tip of a much larger iceberg of practices on a cliff edge’; and ‘unfilled GP vacancies are at their highest, with half of practices struggling to recruit locums to provide essential services.”

Nagpaul commented: “Far from the being thanked for working against all odds, there’s an unforgiving climate of blame. Litigation against GPs has rocketed, no doubt contributed to by us not being able to work safely. CQC adds further insult by crudely judging practices rather than recognising our impossible context.

“The elephant in the room is of course money. As a supposed rich nation it’s shameful we spend less of GDP on health than most of the developed world, where we have a fraction of the hospital beds of France and Germany and lag behind most other OECD countries in our doctor and nurse numbers.

He concluded: “General practice desperately needs more resources, but not by robbing Peter to pay Paul, but from a larger NHS pot that provides the level of care that befits a civilised state.

“This is everyone's fight, from doctors to patients and the public as taxpayers, to challenge politicians who are irresponsibly trying to squeeze a quart into a pint, while savagely slashing NHS funds under self-proclaimed austerity.”