Personal Injury Solicitors

The British Medical Association (BMA) has criticised David Cameron’s pledge to make GP services available seven days a week– saying that services are already close to breaking point and the Prime Minister needs to “get real”.

BBC News reports that Dr Chaand Nagpaul from the BMA called Mr Cameron’s pledge to extend opening hours for GP surgeries to seven days a week and out-of-hours “a surreal obsession”.

Dr Nagpaul – the BMA’s GP leader – is due to address the annual conference of medical committees and is expected to tell delegates that government pledges to recruit 5,000 more GPs in England would “fail dismally” because doctors are “fleeing” the medical profession.
In the run up to the General Election, the Conservative Party pledged that patients would be able to access NHS GP services in England between 8am and 8pm seven days a week by 2020.
Mr Cameron also pledged that every patient over the age of 75 would be able to obtain a same-day appointment.

Dr Nagpaul said:
“The government must halt its surreal obsession for practices to open seven days, when there aren't the GPs to even cope with current demands.
“It would damage quality care by spreading GPs so thinly, and replace continuity of care with impersonal shift work; and will reduce our availability for older, vulnerable patients.”

The Department of Health has called Dr Nagpaul’s comments an “overly negative, pessimistic view”.

However, he is expected to tell the medical committees conference that England is the only country in the EU considering introducing extended opening hours for GP surgeries, despite having fewer GPs per head than in other European countries – and while spending less on healthcare compared to “virtually all other comparable nations”.

Dr Nagpaul also cited a recent survey of 15,000 GPs which shows that one-third are planning to retire in the next five years – and one in five are planning to move overseas.

A rapidly increasing population and budget cuts in other areas of healthcare such as mental health have placed more pressure on GP services – which in turn has spilled over into A&E departments.

A&E staff say they seeing increasing numbers of mental health patients, elderly patients with chronic conditions and parents with young children who are unable to access GP appointments, or community care in the case of mental health patients.

Some GP surgeries now have daily queues outside their doors as patients arrive early in the morning in the hope of being able to see a GP.

Dr Nagpaul is expected to tell the conference of medical committees that there are 40 million more GP appointments annually than there were five years ago when the coalition government came to power – but the proportion of NHS funds spent on GP services is being cut.

Duncan Lewis Personal Injury Solicitors – No win no fee GP Negligence Claims

Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors can advise NHS patients and private healthcare patients who have suffered injury as a result of GP negligence on how to make a no win no fee claim for compensation, including claims relating to:

• Cancer misdiagnosis
• Delays in diagnosis/referral
• Failure to diagnose/refer
• Failure to take X-rays/scans
• Failure to treat
• Misdiagnosis
• Prescribing errors
• Wrong medical treatment.

For expert legal advice on no win no fee GP Negligence Claims, call Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors on 020 7923 4020.