Doctors Blame ‘Workload’ For Lack of Quality of Care

Patients are at risk because their GP’s are struggling to provide safe and effective services.

Highlights

Only around 10% of the doctors in general practices felt that they were delivering standard quality of care to patients.
Around 84% claimed that their workload was unmanageable and excessive.
The rising patient demand, inadequate funding and shortage of staff can be blamed for this crisis.

GPs are struggling to provide safe service and quality care to patients, which puts their health at risk.

A survey of 5,025 family doctors across England for the British Medical Association revealed that only 10% of the doctors felt they were providing good quality and safe service to patients.

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‘A clear strategy in terms of adequate funding, and staff recruitment is necessary to tackle the numerous problems affecting the GP services in England.’

Around 84% of the doctors said that their workload was affecting the quality of service offered to patients. Among them 57% felt that their workload was unmanageable and around 27% said that it was excessive.

Doctors blame the inadequate funding been given, to meet the needs of the aging and rising population.

With up to a third of GP’s planning to retire in the next five years, surgery is also facing recruitment crisis. One in eight posts for surgeons is empty with many of them heading abroad and others being minimally trained.

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Waiting time analysis has revealed that patients have to wait from hours to days for an appointment.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the BMA's GP committee, said“This major survey of more than 5,000 GPs in England demonstrates that GP practices across the country are struggling to provide safe, high-quality patient care because of unmanageable workload.”

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The rising patient demand, contracting budgets and staff shortages have left the doctors in general practices unable to deliver the specialist care many patients need.

A clear strategy that addresses the numerous problems affecting the local GP services is required to address the crisis.

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“We need an urgent expansion of the workforce in both practices and community-based teams, with GPs calling for an increased number of nurses to look after housebound patients and mental health workers to cope with growing demand in this area.” Nagpaul added.

A spokesman for the Department of Health has said that the Government is planning to invest an extra 2.4 billion pounds for recruiting 5000 GP’s and 1500 pharmacists in surgeries by 2020. By expanding the workforce, higher standards of care can be delivered.

Source-Medindia