KEEP PATIENTS SAFE. PROTECT THE NHS. REBUILD GENERAL PRACTICE
General practice should be at the heart of every community – keeping patients safe, and providing strong foundations for the rest of the NHS. But decades of neglect has broken the entire system. We don’t have enough family doctors to treat our patients. GPs are leaving the profession in droves, and practices are closing all over the UK. Patients should be able to see us when they need to.
Our colleagues across the NHS should be able to work closely with us to provide the right care, at the right time. A strong general practice keeps people healthy and gives them the care they need in their community. And it takes the pressure off hospitals and specialist services, saving money in the longer term.
Reform takes time, but these problems are immediate and real.
That’s why we need to come together and Rebuild General Practice. It is the only way we can keep our patients safe, and protect the NHS.
We are a group of GPs calling for a proper, long-term plan to Rebuild General Practice.
We are asking the Government, patients and our colleagues across the NHS to join us in building a long-term patient centred vision for general practice.
We are calling for:
A plan to retain the GP workforce;
Fair funding as part of the wider NHS;
Greater freedom and autonomy to do our jobs.
People want to see a return of the ‘family doctor’, according to a new poll released by Rebuild General Practice and YouGov on 27th September 2023.
The survey of over 4,000 Britons found a majority (57%) think it is important that they see the same GP each time they visit their local surgery.
And nine in ten say that having a surgery close to where they live (90%), a friendly environment (90%), a GP who listens to their concerns (97%) and one who can offer long-term support for their medical conditions (95%) is important to them.
GPs have said that this is a clear indication of the need to invest more in a proper plan for general practice in order to deliver for patients.
As well as wanting to see the same doctor when they visit their GP, a majority (55%) would prefer to visit their GP for a minor ailment over other primary and secondary care services like A&E (5%) or walk-in centres (17%).
The GPs say that there is a crisis in general practice caused by lack of funding and failure to retain doctors in the profession, leading to an inability to deliver the continuous, community-centred care desired by patients.
