Two in five GP practices cut appointments in ‘work to rule’
Two in five GP practices in England have begun cutting the number of appointments available to patients since industrial action began, a survey shows.
Family doctors embarked on “work to rule” measures in August in protest against funding levels for their current contract.
A poll of 660 practices by Pulse magazine found 41 per cent of surgeries are limiting patient contacts to 25 per GP a day.
This is up from 26 per cent in August, when a smaller survey was carried out.
The survey with Management in Practice suggests about 70 per cent of practices are taking some form of action, with others serving notice on voluntary services.
The British Medical Association has said the measures were designed to bring the NHS “to a standstill” but insisted the protests were aimed at policy-makers not patients.
GPs launched a formal dispute over the issue in April after a referendum carried out by the BMA found that 99 per cent of 19,000 GPs rejected the contract.
Since then ministers have awarded GP surgeries a 7.6 per cent funding boost, including a 6 per cent pay rise for family doctors.
But GP leaders this week said they may ramp up industrial action amid a row over an increase in National Insurance that will drive up their costs.
Local committees of doctors have now drawn up proposals “to ballot the profession for more significant industrial action”.
Dr Steve Taylor, GP spokesman for the Doctors’ Association UK, told Pulse: “With the current contract failing to cover costs and increased costs being brought in by the current Government in the form of National Insurance and staff costs, it is vital that the Government makes funding available now to ensure GPs can continue to provide the services they need to for patients.”
Some practices say the Chancellor’s measures, combined with the increase in the national living wage, could cost a practice as much as £140,000 – the equivalent of five nurses.
The British Medical Association is set to start negotiations with the Government on the GP contract for 2025/26 shortly.
The Government last week said “tough decisions” had been taken to allow a £22 billion boost for health and social care, saying further details on the allocation of funding would be set out in due course.
‘NHS is broken’
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “The NHS is broken, and the Secretary of State has been clear he wants to work with doctors to get it back on its feet so it works for patients and staff.
“We have taken tough decisions to fix the foundations so a £22 billion boost for the NHS and social care could be announced at the Budget.
“This Government is committed to recruiting over 1,000 newly qualified GPs by cutting red tape so patients can get the care they need and NHS England is working to address training delays to ensure the health service has enough staff for the future.”