Is having a ‘family’ GP now an outdated concept?

Jennifer Smith, 21 June 2019, Tags:

By Janice Baker Green Party Mole Valley & Epsom & Ewell

Allow GPs to just get on with patient care, and the role of family doctors wouldn’t even be questioned as outdated.  A recent local Green Party survey found two-thirds of respondents agree that quick access to a GP is essential – it saves time, fosters trusting doctor-patient relationships and lessens the stressful need to accurately recall details of your health history.

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The trend towards GP teams dilutes this relationship, but at least keeps primary care local, minimising travel and the number of staff accessing your personal data. GP teams also generally cover a variety of specialisms, and can reduce use of expensive locums while broadening in-house practice training. 

Quick-care clinics and the 111 phone line are invaluable for out-of-hours advice and non-emergency treatment, but they cannot replace GPs.  They do relieve pressure on doctors’ surgeries, as would both regular GP visits to daycare centres and nurseries, and greater use of dispensing chemists and other practitioners.

However, taking away local practices and centralising care leads to even greater surges in ambulance calls, risks associated with delay in accessing health files, and therefore more stress for patients and staff – delivering worse care outcomes overall.

Our health and longevity are vitally important, so good relationships with local practitioners are precious and certainly not ‘outdated’. What is outdated – and regularly proven false – is the supposition that ‘managed’ internal markets and costly consultations can somehow come up with a new formula that improves on the experience, empathy and human understanding that a family GP extends with a smile as we walk into their surgery.

Rather than outsourcing, privatisation, and increasing reliance on false markets, we need to recognise that the publicly-funded health service is a national treasure, and fund it accordingly – and this includes our local GPs.