Action plan to deal with Portsmouth GP crisis
The city has almost 2,500 patients to every family doctor
A working group and action plan's being set up in Portsmouth to deal with a GP crisis.
It comes after a recent Nuffield Trust report showed that Portsmouth has the highest rate of patients to GPs in the country. According to figures from the report, the Portsmouth area has 2,438 patients for every GP.
Health bosses and the city council say they're working together to increase capacity - including plans for a new medical school at the University of Portsmouth.
Portsmouth City Council Leader, Gerald Vernon-Jackson, hosted a summit to discuss the GP crisis in Portsmouth yesterday (4 August).
The event, led by Gerald Vernon-Jackson and Cabinet member for health, wellbeing and social care, Cllr Matthew Winnington, saw key players from across the city explore how a city-wide, coordinated approach could be adopted to tackle the issue, while capitalising on the excellent pre-existing work already being undertaken.
Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson said: "Everybody recognises that GPs are under huge pressure in Portsmouth, where we have the lowest number of GPs per head of population anywhere in the country.
"We know how hard our GPs are working and there is no criticism of them. This is about looking at how we can work together to increase capacity and support primary care in Portsmouth.
"It has been really good to get the health service, GPs and the council together to see what we can jointly do to help residents get to see their GPs and other health professionals in their surgeries.
"We will continue to work closely with the local NHS, voluntary, and community sector under Health and Care Portsmouth to ensure everyone can live a healthy, safe and independent life with the right health and social care services."
Council representatives, along with partners from across health and education in Portsmouth, came together at the Civic Offices to hear first-hand the pressures facing GPs and discuss how a joined-up approach can better support primary care services.
Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Social Care, Cllr Matthew Winnington said: "This was an excellent opportunity for everyone's voices to be heard, and for us to see how we can use our influence to push for change.
"We have some excellent work already being undertaken at a national and local level, and it was inspiring to see so many people dedicated to build on that good work and see how we can support primary care as a council.
"There has never been a more important time to address this issue, so I want to thank everybody who came today."
Topics such as workforce challenges, recruitment and education, and actions already underway through Health and Care Portsmouth were high on the agenda which generated some initial ideas and solutions to consider moving forward.
This includes the continued promotion of additional roles in GP practices such as physiotherapists, clinical pharmacists, dieticians, physician associates, social prescribers and more, and the University of Portsmouth's bid for a new medical school to help address the shortage of GPs from 2024.
Jo York, Managing Director of Health and Care Portsmouth, said: "Primary care continues to be the bedrock of our NHS and is vital that we address the workforce challenges facing them.
"We have already achieved so much through our integrated health and social care model and have worked hard to decrease fragmented care provision in Portsmouth.
"Through Health and Care Portsmouth we will continue to support and advocate for our GPs and increase provision for the city."
Ideas and discussions from the summit will now be explored further, with a working group and action plan being developed. Through this plan the partnership will look to address and deliver outcomes that will increase primary care provision in Portsmouth.