Concerns over £250m funding putting more pressure on Derbyshire GPs
The Local Derbyshire Medical Committee has said GPs are on their knees trying to provide consultations
Last updated 15th Oct 2021
The government has announced a £250m 'rescue plan' for UK GPs over winter, but some people are worried that this will increase the pressure they are already under.
The idea is that the money would boost the amount of face-to-face consultations in practises, but the Local Derbyshire Medical Committee has said this may not be realistic, and they would need more funding to compensate for the shortage they have in GPs to accommodate for the number of patients currently accessing appointments online.
Abuse to staff
GP staff in Derbyshire have received abuse in surgeries and over the phone following accusations that they have not been seeing enough patients. The pressure has been described as having pushed staff to breaking point, and the money which has recently been invested may be the "straw to break the camel's back" according to Medical Director Susie Bayley at the Derbyshire Task Force.
Dr Bayley also said: "This package that' been announced sort of wilfully misrepresents what is going on in general practise in what is needed. The main emphasis around the money is on increasing the number of staff to get them to come in and do work. That extra staff doesn't exist."
"There are so many hidden hoops to jump through within this. And this isn't money going to practises and that's really important to say. The details aren't there but this is not money that is going to be sitting within practises so what it can actually do is questionable."
"It's being offered as a lifeline but it certainly isn't a lifeline with anything, I think it's going to be a straw that breaks the camel's back for an awful lot of people who are just on their knees, and we are getting an enormous number of our members of staff getting abused over the phone or in person. And the simple message is; please be kind."
Online appointments and their benefits
Many patients are keen to be seen in person, especially when they need to get more worrying symptoms checked out by a professional.
But Dr Bayley also noted that being able to work online has meant that GPs have been able to talk to more people about the medical issues they are faced with, before assessing if they need to travel to the surgery.
She said: "It has fundamentally enabled us to continue to provide a service."
"We are in a state of seeing an increasing number of appointments prior than we did prior to the pandemic. We're about 4% up from 2019 in an environment when we've got over 1,000 less equivalent GPs.