GPs ‘to go same way as dentists’ and become private
A surge in private GP numbers is being predicted following Government imposition of their NHS contract effective this month.
The development has brought howls of protest with GP leaders warning extra workload and lack of practice investment will lead to an exodus of more doctors from the health service and longer patient waits.
Roy Lilley
Healthcare commentator Roy Lilley responded with a warning that NHS GPs would go the same way as dentists after having their cage rattled while being busier than ever.
Writing in his daily blog on nhsmanagers.net, he said: ‘The haruspex in me is saying: GPs won’t give up being GPs, but they are very likely to give up the NHS and become private GPs.
‘Internet searches for “private GP” are up 151% in England. Most leading health insurers now have access to round-the-clock “virtual GP” services. They are quick, cheap to set up and popular.
‘Expect the Waitrose middle classes to be prepared to take money out of their purse to have the convenience and reassurance of having a GP in their pocket.’
Calling the imposed contract in England seemingly crass and cack-handed, he criticised the imposition ahead of the publication of the Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care.
‘As we don’t know what’s in the recovery plan, quite how we can contract for the year that will deliver most of it, seems base-about-face to me.’
Mr Lilley reported that, at January 2023, there were the equivalent of 2,078 fewer fully qualified, full-time NHS GPs and 2,224 more patients compared to eight years ago.