THE Tory government ‘should concentrate on expanding GP numbers rather than promising patients undeliverable services’, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the British Medical Association GPs Committee said yesterday.
He was responding to figures obtained by Pulse GPs magazine, which cast serious doubt on Tory PM Cameron’s ability to carry out his promise to give patients access to GP surgeries 12 hours a day, seven days a week.
New figures show that 61 practices have shut down since April 2013, which has forced more than 160,000 people to hunt for a new GP. The figures, obtained by using a Freedom of Information request, also show that more than 500 practices had closed between 2009 and mid-2014.
A further 98 GP surgeries have been threatened with closure due to the withdrawal of the minimum practice income guarantee (MPIG). This was extra funding available to GP practices operating in poorer areas with more social deprivation and therefore more health problems.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul added: ‘There are many practices on the brink of collapse, while others are significantly reducing the level of services they can offer.’ Some parts of England have seen especially high closure rates. In London, 22 practices shut their doors, forcing 52,000 patients to go elsewhere. In the Midlands, seven closed, affecting 27,000 patients.
Staffing shortages and the retirement of GPs have compounded the problem. A survey by the BMA earlier this year revealed one in three are considering retirement in the next five years. The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has also warned that family doctors are leaving the profession ‘in their droves’.
The average age for a GP to retire is 59 and, in October last year, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) identified 543 practices where all or most of the doctors are aged over 60. The threat of the mass closure of GP surgeries throws Cameron’s plans to ‘expand GP access’ into disarray.
Dr Nagpaul calls Cameron’s insistent pledge that ‘all patients will be able to visit their surgery, seven days a week, 8am until 8pm, by 2020’ a ‘surreal obsession’. The British Medical Association (BMA) is calling for NHS England to urgently bring GP practices back from a ‘financial cliff edge’ and restore the Minimum Practice Income Guarantee.
Pulse is running its own campaign to Stop Practice Closures, calling on the government to implement emergency support for those at risk of closure.
