10 November 2017
RCGP Welcomes BMA Report on Protecting the Future of General Practice
In response to the launch of the British Medical Association's new report, Saving general practice, Royal College of GPs Chair, Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard said:
"We welcome this new report which backs up what we've been saying on the severe workload and workforce pressures facing general practice and our calls for further investment and resources to support hardworking GPs and their teams.
"GPs are seeing more than 1m patient consultations every day – accounting for the vast majority of NHS patient contacts - yet we've had a decade of underinvestment in general practice, and our workforce has not kept up with patient demand.
"General practice is the bedrock of the NHS and GPs right across the country are working flat out to provide care for as many patients as we possibly can - but there are limits beyond which we can no longer guarantee safe care to our patients -and this desperately needs to change.
"We need the £2.4bn a year extra for general practice and 5,000 more full-time equivalent GPs by 2020 - promised in NHS England's GP Forward View - delivered in England, in full, and equivalent promises for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as a matter of urgency.
"We look forward to constructive collaboration with our colleagues at the General Practitioners Committee of the BMA to shape the future of UK general practice and ensure that we continue working together to create a safer and more sustainable future for GPs so that we can deliver the best possible care to our patients."
Further Information
RCGP Press office: 020 3188 7574/7575/7633/7410
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.