Labour’s promise to end the “8am rush” for doctor appointments is impossible without increasing core funding for GPs, according to a leading medical association.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting promised during the general election campaign that Labour would “end the 8am rush by allowing patients to easily book an appointment to see the doctor they want, in the way they choose”.
But the British Doctors’ Association has said more funding is needed. The organisation’s GP, Dr Lizzie Toberty, said at least an extra £35 per patient per year is needed to match funding levels a decade ago.
“We get (the same) payment per patient, per year, regardless of how complex the treatment is, regardless of what needs to be done, regardless of how many appointments they have,” Toberty told the i newspaper.
“(Payment) has not increased in line with inflation or patient needs, meaning that over the years primary care has had to do more and more with less and less, which is reflected in the difficulties people have in seeing their GP and in terms of patient satisfaction,” she added.
Let’s be clear: the problems of the ‘8am rush’ are not insurmountable.
Only finance the core of the GP practice https://t.co/uboIgfH9QW
—Dr. Lizzie Toberty 💙 (@lizzie_toberty) August 16, 2024
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Let’s be clear: the problems of the ‘8am rush’ are not insurmountable.
Only finance the core of the GP practice https://t.co/uboIgfH9QW
—Dr. Lizzie Toberty 💙 (@lizzie_toberty) August 16, 2024
According to recent data, the NHS paid an average of £164.64 per registered patient in 2022-23. Despite high demand at GP practices, less than 10% of England’s £165 billion NHS budget is spent on primary care. As of April there are 2,294 patients per GP, an increase of 7.2% since 2019.
In a 22% year-on-year increase, 60,905,102 appointments took place more than two weeks after they were requested between January and December last year – more than three times the 6% increase in the total number of appointments.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson told the PA news agency the government “has committed to recruiting more than 1,000 newly qualified GPs through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme” in the hope of easing the workload of the 27,670 full-time fully qualified GPs working in England in June.
“This Government also accepts the recommendation of the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration to increase salaries by 6% and is currently consulting on its implementation,” the ministry spokesman said.
In a letter to the representative body for GPs in England, the government said it will fund this 6% increase with a 7.4% increase in global sum for 2024-25Toberty argued that this would not be enough to finance the wage increase.
“It’s a step in the right direction, but it shows yet another misunderstanding of what’s really happening in general practice and the complexity of the funding model,” she said. “Essentially, we need a new, less complicated contract.”
Earlier this month, GPs voted overwhelmingly to stage a strike, the first in 60 years. They were protesting against a new contract in which the previous government agreed to a 1.9% increase in funding for 2024-25, which the British Medical Association said was financially unviable.