People value local GP surgeries, says BMA

Strong evidence that people value their local GP practice more than having access to walk-in centres has been published by the British Medical Association, alongside its own manifesto for general practice.

A MORI survey of 2,133 adults across the UK showed that three out of four people feel their local GP surgery is more important to them than having access to a variety of health services in walk-in centres in shops and other public buildings.

This week a manifesto prepared by the BMA's General Practitioners Committee (GPC) will be sent to all prospective parliamentary candidates. It calls on the incoming government "to recognise the crucial role played by GPs and their teams in the NHS, with nine out of 10 NHS consultations, one million a day, being with a GP".

Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the BMA's GPs Committee, said: "With 300 million patient consultations a year, UK general practice is renowned as the most cost-effective form of health care delivery in the developed world. Other countries are doing their best to copy it. The new GP contract, introduced a year ago, provides a 'world-first' with its 'Quality and Outcomes' framework. UK family doctors have proved you can redress health inequalities by providing the best evidence-based medicine to all, regardless of where patients live or their socio-economic status."

Grave GP shortages still exist, says the GPC manifesto, and it calls on the next government to focus investment on recruitment and retention initiatives and put more resources into GP training and education where cuts have led to a reduction in GP training places.

Plans to extend the role of commercial private sector companies into primary care carry significant risks, says the GPC manifesto. This would be done through a type of contract called Alternative Provider Medical Services (APMS).

"There is a danger that the UK's unique system of (patient) list-based general practice will be diluted and undermined by the fragmentation heralded by APMS," states the manifesto.

The manifesto calls on the next government to: Provide the resources for adequate consultation times; Eliminate crude target setting; Involve GPs in developing policies and new systems; Adequately reward GPs for their work in community hospitals; And demonstrate explicit recognition of the crucial role plated by GPs in the NHS.

(GB/SP)