Rebuild General Practice: March newsletter
2024-04-11
Hello all,
We hope you’ve had a great month and are looking forward to a busy April.
Welcome to the March 2024 edition of the Rebuild General Practice newsletter.
Below, you can catch up on what the campaign has been up to over the last month and get a flavour of what’s to come, including some exciting activations in the pipeline for the month of April.
If there is anything you would like to see more of please do get in touch via hello@rebuildgp.co.uk.
All the best,
The Rebuild GP team
![[HEADING] NHS won't survive without properly functioning general practice, medics warn. [SUB-HEADING] It comes amid concerns doctors are leaving the workforce early, while students are unwilling to go into general practice.](https://bucket-reduildgp-a3.s3.amazonaws.com/attachments/cluvd3yyg6822f0ph5ul79m25-83d8f973-a354-ddf0-fa46-f767d76f68e0.full.png)
National media briefing
This month, we hosted a meeting briefing with journalists from top-tier national press in England, Scotland and Wales. The purpose? To convey the reality and pressures in general practice directly to journalists.
The event was well attended by journalists from almost every major national publication who heard our message loud and clear: ‘NHS won’t survive without properly functioning general practice, medics warn’ (PA Media).
Media coverage following the event, in a host of national, trade and regional outlets, highlighted urgency and placed responsibility on government. A front page and incredible two-page spread in the Daily Record, one of Scotland’s most-read papers, evidenced general practice high on the agenda in Scotland.
Many thanks to Dr Rachel Ward, Dr Mohit Mandiratta, and Dr Ian Harris, and well as patient representative from Silver Voices, Dennis Reed, for their time and excellent contributions.
Meetings with MPs
This month has seen continued impact from MP meetings with GPs earlier this year.
Whilst there have been many productive conversations between politicians and GPs ongoing, one highlight for the month of March was Jane Hunt MP asking general practice-focused questions in parliament as a result of a meeting with GPs in her constituency, Loughborough.
The Rebuild General Practice campaign provided the following questions for parliament, which received a government response:
‘To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what action the government is currently taking to address the retention issues general practice is experiencing.’
‘To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessments the government has made to help with increasing GP workloads.’
Additionally, as a result of the ‘Write to your MP’ local Gloucestershire based GPs organised a meeting with six MPs local to the area(including the Secretary of State for Justice and the Secretary of State for Transport).
Rebuild General Practice continues to ramp up the political pressure in the run up to the general election. If you have opportunities with local MPs or ideas to influence government, we’d love to support you.
Rebuild GP on the road
West Midlands roadshow event
This month, our eighth and final roadshow event took place in Walsall, in partnership with the West Midlands LMC Liaison Group.
It was another fantastic group and energising day – the sense of community and shared responsibility that comes out of these sessions is tangible, and we’ve absolutely loved getting out and meeting local GP changemakers.
Grassroots GPs in the press
Rebuild General Practice continues its work to influence media narratives about general practice, both behind the scenes by meetings with key journalists, and publicly by ensuring GP perspectives are driving media reports. Our aim is always to shine a light on the reality of general practice and positioning GPs and patients on the same side.
This month has seen positive media coverage secured by the campaign, driven by the views and voices of our brilliant Rebuild GP spokespeople:
Dr John Montgomery on the front page of the Daily Record;
Dr Mohit Mandiratta quoted in over 20 media articles calling for government action to save general practice, including The Independent;
Consistent coverage for Rebuild General Practice in trade publication, GP Online.
At the local level, we have also supported a number of LMCs to speak to local papers. Please reach out to us if you require briefing material, support or advice in advance of a press opportunity – we’re always happy to help!
Action you can take in April 2024
Patient engagement toolkit
This month we launched the Rebuild General Practice patient engagement toolkit – a collection of materials that will help GPs to convey the crisis in general practice to their patients.
Over to you
Find all the materials on the Rebuild General Practice website:
🗣️ Ask your patients and/or friends to join Rebuild General Practice in calling on government to fix the crisis, using the templates in the toolkit (MP letter, social posts, etc.)
📺Display the patient engagement animation on the screens in your surgery to show patients the reality of the crisis and let them know how they can help.
🤳 Share our social media thread – and post your own:
🔁Encourage your constituent GPs and colleagues in general practice to do the same by sharing this WhatsApp and the materials with them.
Tell us your stories
The Rebuild campaign is built around you and your experiences in general practice. We know that every surgery is different, and every GP has unique stories about the ups and downs of the profession.
That’s why we want to hear from you. We would love for you to tell us a selection of your experiences – positive and negative – so we can work with you in creating stories that cut through to media and to patients.
All the questions in the survey are optional - but the more we know, the more we can work with you to represent general practice as accurately as possible.
You can access the survey here.
Get to know your local PPCs
Polls are predicting a big shake up at the upcoming general election – meaning MPs are not the only important voices we need to be influencing.
Political parties are currently selecting their election candidates, many of whom will likely soon take their seats in the House of Commons.
We’ve put together a comprehensive guide of the most competitive seats across England, Scotland, and Wales – so you can get ahead of the curve and capture the attention of ‘Prospective Parliamentary Candidates’ (PPCs) before they become MPs inundated with new-MP duties.
We’ve already seen commitments from PPCs who have attended our grassroots roadshow, but there’s more work to do.
You can access our PPC Map on the Rebuild General Practice website – which includes information on the most highly contested seats, the candidates, and contact details for you to get in touch.
Write to your MP, MSP, or MS
In the past weeks, it has grown increasingly likely that the general election will take place in Autumn. This means we still have time to influence parties from across Great Britain to prioritise general practice and show them the realities on the ground.
In the past couple of months, we have been asking you to write to write to your MPs en masse to ensure that general practice is at the top of their inboxes and minds going into this crucial general election period. And we’ve seen results, with MPs from across the country meeting with GPs to hear our asks.
We need you to continue mobilising your MPs, MSPs, and MS’s ahead of the campaigning period to make the most impact possible.
Everything you need – email templates, how to find your MP/MSP/MS, social media posts – is right here.
Coming soon: general election countdown
The general election is due to take place later this year – and now is the time to amp up political pressure and ensure politicians are hearing our calls for change in general practice.
In the coming weeks, we’ll be announcing some political activations aimed at making sure our message is cutting through to the right people – more to come on this in April, so keep your eyes peeled.