This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
GPs don't have enough time to adequately assess patients
A new survey of more than 1,500 GPs in England has revealed that 60 per cent of GPs say they don't have enough time to adequately assess patients, and more than half think that patient safety is compromised because consultations are too short.
Conducted by ComRes, the RCGP survey also found that 78 per cent of GPs report working longer than contracted hours at least once or twice a week. Looking at recruitment and retention, an issue which has plagued the sector in recent years, the research shows that 68 per cent of GPs involved in recruiting say it has been difficult to recruit GPs over the past year – with 65 per cent saying it has been difficult to recruit a practice nurse.
Meanwhile, 31 per cent say they are unlikely to be working in general practice in five years' time, with just over half (53 per cent) saying that they are likely to be.
The survey coincides with the final major speech of Helen Stokes-Lampard, soon to depart chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, who warned politicians not to resort to 'vote-winning gimmicks' as a way of reducing waiting times for GP appointments.
Arguing that the solution to unacceptable waiting times is not 'arbitrary targets that prioritise what politicians want over what patients really need’, she said that investment in the family doctor service, GP workforce and infrastructure right across the UK is undoubtedly 'the best way' of improving patient access to a GP.
She told an audience in Liverpool: "Do not take us for granted. Do not make any rash decisions about our service or introduce gimmicks that might be vote winners but would ultimately set back general practice 20 years. History has taught us that access targets in general practice do not work. We must learn from those lessons, not repeat them. We must first be offering what our patients need, not what politicians want. If unrealistic targets are imposed on our profession, it will crumble, and if general practice crumbles, patients won’t be able to see a GP, at all."
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