RCGP welcomes solutions suggested in latest NHS Reality Check report

The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has published it’s 2018 NHS reality check: Delivering care under pressure, representing the opinions of over 2,100 doctors and NHS teams and making recommendations as to how best to move forward

The RCP has published it’s 2018 NHS reality check: Delivering care under pressure, which makes key recommendations in terms of funding and investment to the benefit of the NHS and the patients that it serves.

Recognising that the NHS is currently underfunded, under-doctored and overstretched, the PCP asked members to share their experiences on the front line of care delivery with the aim of analysing the information and developing a plan for health and social care. A plan designed to meet the UK’s health and care needs in the long term, and to value, support and motivate NHS staff.

Responding to NHS reality check Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the RCGP said, “We have huge empathy with our hospital colleagues, and we know that GPs around the UK would echo their sentiments around increasing workload, and concerns for patient safety. Our NHS is operating under immense pressures and we’re sure that everyone working in the health system can relate to this report in one way or another.

“The combination of a depleted workforce, intense workload, and chronic underfunding has left our health service on the brink, putting both staff and patient wellbeing at risk.

“In general practice alone, our workload has risen by at least 16% over the last seven years, but investment in our service has not risen at the same pace – something surgeries up and down the country are now feeling on a day-to-day basis.

“We agree with the recommendations made in the report that we need to make the UK more accessible and attractive to doctors from other countries, and that public initiatives to reduce patient need must be properly funded if the NHS is to see any benefit.

“For general practice, NHS England’s GP Forward View promises an extra £2.4bn a year for general practice, 5,000 more GPs, and 5,000 more members of the practice team, and we need to see it delivered, in full, and as a matter of urgency, so that GPs and our teams can provide the high-quality care our patients need and deserve.”

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