14 September 2017
GP Pressures Will Inevitably Cause Frustration for Patients
Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard has responded to data published by NHS England on written patient complaints in the NHS. She said: “GP practices actively encourage patients to submit feedback and raise complaints if they feel that the care and services they have received are below their expectations. It is through patient feedback that GP teams can improve the care they deliver to their patients.
"However, the family doctor service has experienced almost a decade of under-investment and as a result, GPs and our teams are buckling under the pressures of a huge increase in patient numbers but a shortage of doctors to care for them. Inevitably, this will occasionally impact on the service we can deliver and this can be frustrating for patients – and GPs.
"The GP-patient relationship is unique in the NHS and GPs are consistently ranked amongst the most trusted healthcare professionals in the UK.
"We want to keep it that way and that's why we need the pledges in NHS England's GP Forward View - to invest more in general practice and build the GP workforce - to be implemented as a matter of urgency."
Further Information
RCGP Press office: 020 3188 7574/7575
Out of hours: 0203 188 7659
press@rcgp.org.uk
Notes
The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 52,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education, training, research and clinical standards.