Doctors say Labour threatens vital GPs

May 17 2008 by Paul James, The Journal

FAMILY doctors across the North East yesterday accused the Government of wasting billions of pounds of extra money it has invested in the NHS.

They said New Labour had blown the cash on ill-considered schemes and encouraged companies into the NHS, presenting a real risk to the GP system.

The open letter is signed by GP representatives from Newcastle and North Tyneside, Northumberland, Gateshead and South Tyneside, and Sunderland.

The doctors include Whitley Bay GP and regional British Medical Council chairman George Rae, and Ashington GP Jane Lothian, who recently negotiated the controversial new contracts for doctors in Northumberland.

They also say health centres and practices planned in Northumberland, North Tyneside and Newcastle will destabilise surgeries and inconvenience patients.

The letter says: “A great deal of money has been invested in the NHS by this Labour Government and they need to be congratulated for this.

“However, much of this has been wasted on ill-considered schemes that may be popular ideas but are not cost- effective in delivering genuine patient care. Examples are NHS Direct, walk-in centres, urgent care teams – not to mention the £12bn spent on a computer system that has not delivered.

“On average a GP consultation costs £21, a single phone call to NHS Direct costs £27, a walk-in centre consultation costs £33 and an A&E attendance £75.

“This confirms general practice as the most cost-effective component of the NHS. GPs and their staff are also the only part of the NHS that genuinely provide continuing personal care to all patients and their loved ones.

“Unfortunately, in the Government’s rush to ensure competition from private companies in the NHS – in the mistaken belief that this drives down costs and improves quality, for which there is no evidence – there is a real risk to present-day general practice.”

A Department of Health spokesman said: “As Health Minister Ara Darzi has said repeatedly since he started his review that it is for local people and clinicians, not the Government, to decide what they want in their community, as what works in one area might not be suitable for another.

“We are investing an extra £250m to establish new primary care services in both GP-run health centres and GP practices, particularly in areas where there are not enough doctors. This is about increasing access to primary care – not replacing existing GPs.”

The GPs’ letter, in The Journal today, adds: “After the recent local elections, Gordon Brown says he will listen to the public, but there has been precious little evidence of that before the elections.

“Let us hope he intends listening now, so the NHS can continue to provide a first-class service to those that need it most … and not just to those who shout loudest.”

'There is genuine fear'

DR ROGER FORD, secretary for Sunderland Local Medical Committee and Northern Council of the British Medical Association, said: "The General Practitioners of the North East of England have welcomed the significant investment in the health service over the last few years.

"The North East is an area with many large pockets of underprivileged patients with high rates of serious illness and premature death and therefore our patients deserve even further investment.

"However, the establishment of numerous completely new practices, with all the expense of additional overheads, via a tendering exercise is clearly designed to encourage the interest of private companies with shareholders’ interests to satisfy.

"Few of those shareholders will be North East residents and we believe this is the latest large step in this Government’s agenda of introducing the private sector into the NHS.

"There is a very genuine fear these new practices will cause a destabilisation of practices which currently offer a high level of personal and continuing healthcare to patients and their families.

"The additional investment would be much better directed to existing practices and used by local doctors and nurses who have long understood the needs of their patients in the North East of England."

Whitley Bay GP Dr George Rae, chair of the regional council of the BMA, said: "The Government should be giving funding to existing GP services rather than areas such as walk-in centres, urgent care teams and polyclinics."