FORMAL DISPUTE

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This is an interim news update. Our next regular newsletter will hopefully be published next month.

We are publishing this interim newsletter because things are afoot in GP-land. You may have heard in the news that, as of April 17, 2024, GPs are now in formal dispute with the government.

This arose after the results of a BMA referendum, in which 99.2% of more than 19,000 GPs and GP registrars who voted said they rejected the 2024/25 contract for General Practice from government and NHS England. The number of voting GPs represented nearly three-quarters of all GP partners.

The government imposed the contract on April 1, 2024. This follows an imposed contract of last year and also the year before that, so this year represents three years in a row that the goverment has imposed a contract upon GPs.

GPs are rightly fed up, not only with repeatedly imposed contracts, but also with the years of chronic underfunding, lack of investment and resources, nonsense targets, micromanagement, needless red tape and paperwork amongst many other things that are currently wrong with the direction in which General Practice is being forced.

We want the government to properly invest in GPs and their staff, GP surgeries and their buildings. We know the public wants a GP service that is responsive, accessible and safe, a service that looks after not only its patients, but also its own team who are working hard to provide a quality service in very difficult circumstances.

See below for the official BMA press releases and the letter sent by our GP leader to NHS England.

BUSINESS OF GENERAL PRACTICE

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Even though nearly everyone uses General Practice, not everyone understands what it represents, or how it actually works. Other workers in the NHS might not have a clear idea and even staff who are working day-to-day in GP surgeries might not have a complete understanding.

As part of staff training, the partners and management at Ivy Grove sought to educate their own team on the ins and outs of General Practice, to provide important background context to the pressures facing GP surgeries, and why things are difficult not just for patients but also for GP teams. A presentation was made to the team by Dr Wong a week or so ago.

We have now updated this presentation and converted it to a video, so that we can share it with you, our patients, so that you all have an awareness of just what is going on and why what happens outside General Practice has such a huge impact upon it.

Because the video covers much of the scope of General Practice, and because explaining General Practice is actually not that easy, it's necessarily comprehensive. We strongly encourage you to spend some time learning more about General Practice, so that you can see behind the political soundbites and understand why GPs are up in arms, and why things are so difficult at the moment.

To help viewers, we have broken the video down into six sections for easier viewing. Feel free to watch in sequence, or just what you are interested in, though we do recommend you eventually take a look at all of the sections to gain a proper understanding of General Practice and current events.

Videos have been muted by default, feel free to switch the sound on or expand the video by clicking the relevant icons as the video is playing. Better results are obtained by rotating your mobile device to landscape mode. Use the video controls to pause the video if you need to.

PART 1: WHAT IS GENERAL PRACTICE?

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This video talks about what General Practice actually is, what a GP is or isn't, what General Practice does in comparison with the rest of the NHS and the significant positive impact of General Practice.

PART 2: HISTORY OF GENERAL PRACTICE, GP CONTRACT AND OUR PLACE IN THE NHS

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This video talks about the recent history of General Practice, including repeatedly imposed contracts, a GP surgery's place in the whole NHS.

PART 3: GP SURGERIES, GP CONTRACT AND GP FINANCES

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This video talks about GP surgeries and the GP contract in more detail, and gives information on how GP surgeries are funded, including cost comparisons.

PART 4: GP PARTNERS, PRACTICE MANAGERS AND GP BUSINESS SETUP

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This video talks about what GP partners are, what they do, what Practice Managers do, and the extremely limited setup of a GP business compared to a standard business set up.

PART 5: GP TEAM, PRIMARY CARE NETWORKS, ARRS STAFF AND ACCESS

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This video talks about the GP team, Primary Care Networks, additional staff to help with GP workload, comparative funding and risks of pushing access with no consideration of safety.

PART 6: SOLUTIONS FOR GENERAL PRACTICE

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This video talks about the dishonest solutions for General Practice currently being touted by NHS England and government, followed by real solutions, and then lists some of the things that GPs, GP teams and patients each can do to help the current situation.

NEXT STEPS...

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Your GP service is a vital part of the community - you might not fully appreciate this till you come to really need it yourself. The actions of government represent continued disinterest and disinvestment in the GP service, whose only purpose it seems right now is to provide vote-winning political soundbites. Expect more empty promises from all parties as the election approaches.

Our GP leaders are now working behind the scenes to determine the next steps in the formal dispute, so watch this space. We ask patients to keep an interest in what is happening with General Practice so that you know what your GP surgery is up to and why.

Rest assured, from all of the team here at Ivy Grove Surgery, we will continue to strive to provide high quality friendly family health care to all our patients. Take care.

Kind regards

Ivy Grove Surgery