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GPs urged to improve care quality GPs call for end to NHS conflict
(1 day later)
GPs are being urged to improve the quality of the patient experience by embracing new initiatives. GPs have held out an olive branch to ministers, saying they want to end the conflict that has dogged relations between the two groups.
The British Medical Association's family doctor leader, Laurence Buckman, will tell the union's GP conference that this is the "year of quality". Doctors at the British Medical Association's GPs conference acknowledged the "them and us" attitude had been damaging.
He will cite examples of projects currently in use such as web-based prescription ordering services. Rows over pay and policy have soured negotiations in recent years.
The call mirrors the government push to drive up standards and marks a change from the policy rows of previous years. But the doctors said with doubts growing over NHS finances now was time to work together.
Improving the quality of the patient experience has become a top priority for the Department of Health since its major review of the NHS last year. We are going to try to take the politics out of our NHS Dr Laurence BuckmanBritish Medical Association
This is the year of quality, when we show our patients and the public what we can do and how well we can do it Dr Laurence Buckman, of the British Medical Association Earlier this week NHS managers warned there could be a £10bn funding gap after 2011 as the government curbs public spending after bailing out the banks.
So the fact that it is a key theme of the BMA's London meeting is significant. Some tightening of the purse strings already seems to be happening with figures obtained by the Tories suggesting a five-year £750m programme to rebuild and refurbish community hospitals has been put on hold with only a third of the money spent.
Past conferences have been dominated by disputes over pay - GP income was frozen for a while after a new contract led to huge rises - and policies on polyclinics and out-of-hours care. Shared agenda
Dr Buckman acknowledged improving quality was a "shared agenda", but said he was still concerned by many government policies. In his speech to open the London conference, Dr Laurence Buckman said: "We are going to try to take the politics out of our NHS, working with managers, nurses and patients in our own areas to make sure policies are delivered sensibly."
"We should be proud of the services we provide, but that does not mean we should not look at ways of improving what we offer. Dr Buckman also called on doctors to embrace the government's drive to improve the quality of the patient experience, saying it was a "shared agenda".
"It should be normal for all of us to think 'how does this look to my patients?' He said this should be "the year of quality".
"This is the year of quality, when we show our patients and the public what we can do and how well we can do it." "It should be normal for all of us to think 'how does this look to my patients?'"
To launch the conference, the BMA is publishing a report containing examples of initiatives which have already been adopted. The BMA also published a report containing examples of initiatives which have already been adopted to improve services.
It cites one surgery that has interactive computer pods in its waiting room so patients can record live feedback on a touch-screen computer. It cites things such as online online systems for making appointments, longer durations for repeat prescriptions and catch-up slots be built in to the GP day to minimise problems with appointments over running.
Others offer the web-based prescription ordering services which can be linked to a pharmacy of the patient's choice for easy dispensing. Glasgow-based GP Dr Georgina Brown, who proposed a motion which was passed to end the "them and us" attitude between the profession and politicians, said: "Rather than exclude our politicians, it is time to actively court them."
Money She said in her area doctors had regular evening meetings with local politicians and suggested GPs could get them to spend time with them on the front-line.
But some of the measures being recommended are also fairly simple. But doctors also warned that they were still unhappy over a host of government initiatives, including the network of polyclinics being introduced across England.
The report suggests online systems for making appointments, longer durations for repeat prescriptions and catch-up slots be built in to the GP day to minimise problems with appointments over running. The so-called super surgeries contain a range of service under one roof and are being run in some places by private firms.
The BMA is also urging GPs to set up patient participation groups to give regular feedback on service - only a third of surgeries currently have these. 'Jewel in the crown'
But Dr Buckman is also expected to attack the money spent on the national patient survey which helps determine GP pay. Dr Alan Thompson, a GP from Lewisham, said in times of financial constraints ministers needed to protect general practice and stop wasting money on schemes such as polyclinics.
He will say £8m is being spent this year on the poll, which he says represents a waste of public money. "General practice is the jewel in the crown of the NHS. It is what our patients want and what our patients like."
Professor Chris Ham, a health policy expert at Birmingham University and former government adviser, said: "The change in tone is probably a reflection of the economic situation - it would not be appropriate to go on about pay when people are losing their jobs. Others criticised the £8m which is being spent on the national patient survey, which helps to determine pay of GPs.
"I also think some of the things they have been most concerned about, such as private firms getting the polyclinic contracts, have not materialised to such an extent. A Department of Health spokeswoman said the BMA's position on collaboration and the improving the patient experience was "welcome"
"But I am sure these issues will come back on the agenda in time." "The government's strategy for primary care underlines the importance of enabling patients to do more to shape GP services, for instance by having more flexible and convenient ways to access their local surgery."
A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "We welcome the BMA's report. The Government's strategy for primary care underlines the importance of enabling patients to do more to shape GP services, for instance by having more flexible and convenient ways to access their local surgery."