Primary care access plan includes positive steps but won't address fundamental issues affecting general practice

Responding to the publication today by NHS England and DHSC of the Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care, Health Foundation policy fellow Jake Beech said:

‘Today’s plan includes some positive steps towards improving access to primary care but falls well short of addressing the fundamental issues affecting general practice.

‘It is vitally important that people are able to see an appropriate clinician when they need to but the fact remains that there are not enough GPs to meet patient demand.

‘Our recent polling with Ipsos shows that 65% of the public think access to GP services is getting worse and that over 40% report that they have to wait too long to see a GP.

‘Community pharmacy has an important role to play working alongside general practice. Improved telephony and better triage may also help improve services but these measures will take time to implement and won’t address the fundamental mismatch between demand for medical care and available GPs.

‘GP numbers^[1] are down by almost 2000 compared with 2015 when current records began. GP numbers are lower in the most deprived areas, putting people in these communities at even greater risk of being unable to see a GP when they need one.

‘The need for an NHS workforce plan is now more urgent than ever. GPs in the UK are more stressed and less satisfied with their workload than their peers in a number of similar countries^[2]. The upcoming workforce plan must set out how they will train and recruit new GPs as well as retain existing staff.’

Notes to editors

[1] Here we are referring to fully qualified, permanent, full time equivalent GPs. See the Health Foundation’s General Practice Tracker for key data on appointments and workforce.

[2] Reference: Commonwealth Fund analysis Stressed and Overworked.

Media contact
Creina Lilburne
creina.lilburne@health.org.uk
020 7664 4647