This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
Jeremy Hunt softens pre-election pledge for GP numbers
Speaking at the Health+Care show 2015, Jeremy Hunt cast doubt on the government’s pledge and said that the Department of health would look to practise nurses and associate physicians to better support primary care.
Hunt said: “I talked about recruiting 5,000 more GPs on Friday. In truth, we think that is the maximum that we would be able to increase the GP workforce by, over the next five years. Given the time it takes to train new GPs; given the potential number of people who we can persuade to come back into the profession.”
Hunts comments come after a speech on 19 June in which he reenforced the government’s commitment to providing 5,000 new GPs, as well as 5,000 new support staff.
Dr Chaad Nagpaul, chair of the British Medical Association’s GP committee, was critical of the proposed target before the election. Responding to Hunt’s comments, he said: “Delivering 5,000 extra GPs in five years, when training a GP takes 10 years, was a practical impossibility that was never going to be achieved.”
He added: “We are glad that after pressure from the BMA, the secretary of state is beginning to accept that we need to be more realistic about GP recruitment.
“With such a limited workforce he now needs to rethink his plans for seven day services which cannot be practically delivered with the current shrinking number of GPs. There must also be serious steps taken to address the fundamental reasons why doctors do not want to be GPs, including delivering real and sustained investment to struggling practices, countering the negative stereotypes of GPs, reducing the burden of bureaucracy and enabling GPs to spend more time with their patients.”
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