Skip to main content

BMA launches new initiative to give patients the real story behind NHS change and pressures

The BMA has today (Friday, 7 June 2013) launched an initiative to help GPs in England explain to their patients and the public what’s happening in the NHS and what it could mean for them.

The activities are the first phase of a longer term programme to engage with the public on the future of general practice and include:

A new changingnhs.com web portal setting out the key changes and pressures affecting patients. This includes information about NHS reforms in England, including competition and patient choice, NHS funding, the GP contract and out-of-hours services. It also offers doctors’ views and explains how patients can have their say. 
 
A poster for GPs to display in their practices directing patients to changingnhs.com. This is being sent out to GPs in England in the BMJ this week. The web portal will also be promoted through online search ads and web links. 

An MP-GP visit scheme which invites MPs to spend time in a practice in their constituency to see what’s happening on the ground and to talk directly to practice staff about their priorities and concerns.

Dr Laurence Buckman, Chair of the BMA’s GP committee, said:

“The NHS is experiencing a period of profound change as it tries to absorb the impact of the Health and Social Care Act and unprecedented pressure from rising patient demand and an increasingly tight financial climate. General practice in particular is facing a testing time as it comes to terms with the introduction of clinical commissioning groups, imposed changes to the GP contract and continued pressure on out-of-hours services.

“GPs feel that our patients aren’t getting the real story about what is happening in the NHS which is why the BMA is launching this initiative. In a turbulent world, it is vital that GPs play a key role in giving patients the information they need about how their NHS is changing. We will be building on this initiative over the coming months, as we respond to the impact of the changes and pressures and as we seek to develop a positive way forward for general practice for our patients.”

The BMA website says "many doctors are really worried about several aspects of the latest changes to how the NHS is run and to how the financial pressures are being managed."

There is also a poll on the website for patients to have their say on how they think the NHS changes will affect them.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Prioritising people in nursing care.

There has been in recent years concern that care in the NHS has not been sufficiently 'patient centred', or responsive to the needs of the patient on a case basis. It has been felt in care that it as been the patient who has had to adapt to the regime of care, rather than the other way around. Putting patients at the centre of care means being responsive to their needs and supporting them through the process of health care delivery.  Patients should not become identikit sausages in a production line. The nurses body, the Nursing and Midwifery Council has responded to this challenge with a revised code of practice reflection get changes in health and social care since the previous code was published in 2008. The Code describes the professional standards of practice and behaviour for nurses and midwives. Four themes describe what nurses and midwives are expected to do: prioritise people practise effectively preserve safety, and promote professionalism and trust. The
Post a Comment
Read more

Half measures on heat pumps

Through the "Heat and Buildings Strategy", the UK government has set out its plan to incentivise people to install low-carbon heating systems in what it calls a simple, fair, and cheap way as they come to replace their old boilers over the coming decade.  New grants of £5,000 will be available from April next year to encourage homeowners to install more efficient, low carbon heating systems – like heat pumps that do not emit carbon when used – through a new £450 million 3-year Boiler Upgrade Scheme. However, it has been widely criticised as inadequate and a strategy without a strategy.  Essentially, it will benefit those who can afford more readily to replace their boiler.   Undoubtedly, the grants will be welcome to those who plan to replace their boilers in the next three years, and it might encourage others to do so, but for too many households, it leaves them between a rock and a hard place.  There are no plans to phase out gas boilers in existing homes.  Yet, that is wha
Post a Comment
Read more

No real commitment on climate

Actions, they say, speak louder than words.  So, when we look at the UK government's actions, we can only conclude they don't mean what they say about the environment and climate change.  Despite their claims to be leading the charge on reducing emissions, the UK government is still looking to approve new oil fields.  The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson,  has announced his support for developing the Cambo oil field and 16 other climate-destroying oil projects. Cambo is an oil field in the North Sea, west of Shetland. A company called Siccar Point has applied for a permit to drill at least 170 million barrels of oil there. If it's allowed to go ahead, it will result in the emissions equivalent of 18 coal plants running for a year.  What? Yes, 18 coal plants a year!  Today, as I write, Greenpeace is demonstrating in Downing Street against this project.  I suppose it will get the usual government dismissal and complaints about inconveniencing others.  Well, we know it won't
Post a Comment
Read more