Primary Care Reports

27 March 2012

'Mission Critical': RCGP Calls for UK-Wide Vision on Patient Care

The Chairs of the RCGP's UK Council and Councils in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have today written to the Health Ministers of all four countries calling for a UK-wide vision for the future of the NHS and patient care.

In a joint statement, Dr Clare Gerada (Chair of Council), Dr John Gillies (Chair of Scottish Council), Dr Paul Myres (Chair of Welsh Council) and Professor Scott Brown (Chair of Northern Ireland Council) call on Ministers to take forward an approach for the NHS based on a set of 10 core underlying principles which apply across national borders - and which builds on the strengths of general practice to meet the challenges facing the NHS.

Acknowledging the individual differences between the health services in the different countries, they identify the shared challenges and how specific solutions can be tailored to each individual nation.

The RCGP suggests to Ministers that general practice is 'mission critical' to the future of the NHS, particularly at a time when health services across the UK are being asked to find ways of delivering services more efficiently without compromising quality of patient care.

In the statement they say: "As the Chairs of the Royal College of General Practitioners' UK Council and Councils in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, we believe that a UK-wide vision is needed for the future of our countries' health services that builds on the strengths of  general practice to meet the challenges facing the NHS. We call on Ministers in each of the constituent nations of the UK to work with the RCGP and other stakeholders to develop a plan to make this vision a reality."

They ask Ministers to "invest" in general practice and build on its strengths by:

• Providing more care in the community
• Providing more GPs, spending more time with patients and extending GP training
• Integrating health and social care
• Greater involvement of clinicians in decisions about how services are planned
• Recognising the value of Generalism
• Achieving change - working in collaboration across health and social care

In return, they say GPs across the UK are committed to:

• Providing high quality, evidence-informed holistic care to their patients and to families in their communities, responsive to their needs
• Working across organisational and professional boundaries with colleagues in primary and secondary care to collaborate to provide integrated care
• Offering continuity in partnership with patients and their carers
• Respecting the trust placed in GPs by patients, principally through the face-to-face consultations but also acknowledging the different modes of engagement technology facilitates
• Making the best possible use of finite resources

In the joint statement, the four Chairs say: "We believe that across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland there is clear evidence that investing in primary care and involving GPs in shaping and designing services will be essential to meeting the future needs of patients and communities whilst protecting the principles of the NHS.

This approach should continue to have at its heart a commitment to a National Health Service providing care according to need regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, mental or physical capacity, religious or cultural beliefs or ability to pay.

"General practice can and must play a central role in meeting these challenges. A vision is needed that builds on the strengths of general practice and the trust placed in it by the public, and unlocks its potential to deliver improved, more cost effective patient care across the NHS and within our communities."

They conclude: "The College is ready to take this vision forward in collaboration with local and national government, patients, and healthcare stakeholders across primary and secondary care services. We must focus on the real task at hand: that of creating a health service fit for the 21st Century, underpinned by evidence of what works and the challenge to all concerned to work differently for the sake of their patients."

Further information

RCGP Press office – 020 3188 7574/7575/7576
Out of hours: 0203 188 7659 
press@rcgp.org.uk

Notes

The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 44,000 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.