‘We WON’T have face-to-face GP league tables’: Row erupts as medical union bosses claim they have won ‘significant concessions’ over plans to overhaul appointments… but health officials deny it
- GPs claimed they won ‘concessions’ over plans for face-to-face appointments
- But Department of Health officials deny claim and said it would press ahead to publish surgery-level data showing proportion of appointments were in person
- Just 61% of 28m GP appointments carried out in September were held in-person
A furious row erupted last night as GPs claimed they had won ‘significant concessions’ over Sajid Javid’s plans to ensure more face-to-face appointments.
The British Medical Association (BMA) had voted down the Health Secretary’s package – announced after a Daily Mail campaign – which included identifying surgeries that saw too few people in person.
After a meeting on Wednesday night between the BMA and NHS England, there were claims that the plan to publish ‘league tables’ – showing what proportion of appointments were in person – had been abandoned, along with specific targets.
But the Department of Health moved quickly to insist it had made no concession to doctors’ unions. It said it would press ahead with measures to publish surgery-level data on face-to-face appointments.
GPs claimed last night they had won ‘significant concessions’ over Sajid Javid’s (pictured) plans to ensure more face-to-face appointments
A spokesman said: ‘There are no plans to change the set of measures outlined earlier this month to support our phenomenal GPs. Transparency of data is vitally important as we level up healthcare across the country.’
Both sides appeared to agree that publishing data should not be labelled as ‘naming and shaming’.
The BMA is still talking to its members about possible industrial action, which could mean doctors at 6,600 practices reduce their workload.
But, in a new initiative, ministers have agreed to work alongside the BMA to launch a ‘zero tolerance’ campaign on the abuse of NHS staff. It came as 11million patients missed out on face-to-face appointments last month.
Just 61 per cent of the 28million GP appointments carried out in September were held in-person, latest NHS England figures show.
This is up slightly on previous months but still well below pre-pandemic levels of 80 per cent of consultations.
Statistics also revealed that nearly half of all appointments are now with ‘other practice staff’ – such as a nurse or physio – rather than a doctor.
Earlier this month, the Government and NHS chiefs unveiled a nine-point package of measures to tackle the problem.
But Department of Health officials deny the claim and said it would press ahead to publish surgery-level data showing what proportion of appointments were in person (stock image)
The £250million plan would mean doctors cannot deny a face-to-face appointment unless there is a good clinical reason, and surgeries which don’t deliver them could be named and shamed.
But the BMA has urged GPs to refuse to comply with the plan, which they called a ‘bully’s charter’.
Professor Martin Marshall, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said: ‘Good, safe and personalised care can be delivered remotely, and it is not confined to general practice.’
But minister for primary care Maria Caulfield said: ‘I know how important it is for patients to be able to see their GP in the way they choose and so it’s promising to see the number of face-to-face appointments is increasing.
‘We have set out a plan to provide targeted support for GP teams to help them continue to improve access –backed by a further £250million.’
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