Worcestershire LMC

This is what I have been raising concerns over...and he is right! Advice & Guidance is a good thing, when it is exactly that...Advice & Guidance. Mandating referrals to a Single Point of Access with an aim to bounce 1 in 4 referrals back to a GP is not a good thing!

NHS patients are finding themselves unexpectedly removed from waiting lists, and the new contract set to be imposed on GPs in England will only make things worse. @doctor_katie spoke to the Telegraph on why GPs reject the new measures. telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/2…

This week the NHS will undergo one of the most radical – and scandalous - changes in its history. From 1st April (the public are the fools in this), GPs will be contractually obliged to seek remote, electronic “advice and guidance” from hospital ‘clinicians’ (note, not necessarily doctors), making it even harder for patients to see a hospital specialist. Does this sound part of a plan to genuinely ‘fix’ the NHS, as Wes Streeting vowed he would do so effusively when taking up office - or more like a tactic to ration hospital care by overriding GPs in order to massage the waiting list figures? It is, of course, the latter, an extra layer of bureaucracy that at best will delay patients’ access to the specialist treatment they need, at worse sacrifice those patients on the altar of fake news about “falling” waiting lists. You don’t need me to point out the patient safety risks it potentially entails. We all know that time, in medicine, can be everything. The Royal College of GPs has been crystal clear: “The use of advice and guidance should not be mandated in any area… We have heard reports of risks of delays, with tests being required before any referral, lost messages and staff without appropriate senior clinical oversight handling requests.” The aim, says the Times, is to reduce the number of hospital outpatient appointments by 30 million annually. And the government, in a really quite breathtaking example of political spin, is presenting this as “good” for patients - as though all those people who’ve been waiting years months or even years for the first Rheumatology, Neurology or Orthopaedics appointment they so desperately need are just, you know, malingering. (I recently spoke to a patient with a new diagnosis of multiple sclerosis who’d been waiting over six months to see a neurologist for the first time – simply scandalous.) I believe this is a national health scandal from a government that apparently cares more about good spin than it does about good patient care. If you feel the same, please – please – write to your MP or the Secretary of State and tell them why. Please shout about this online, in the press, anywhere you can. Don’t let this slide. Thank you.

No neighbourhood provider contracts for another year hsj.co.uk/primary-care/n…

Not only doctors who need new ‘deal’ from NHS, says Mackey hsj.co.uk/integrated-car…

Streeting: ‘Failing’ CQC to absorb safety body with ‘enormous care’ hsj.co.uk/patient-safety…

BMA tells Government that new 10-year plan contracts require GP approval, in a move to protect the GP Partnership model. See recent article from management in practice. managementinpractice.com/news/new-10-ye…

GP makes formal complaint over Wes Streeting behaviour towards BMA gponline.com/gp-makes-forma…

Are GPs heading for an imposed contract next year, plus what the budget means for general practice shows.acast.com/61308bc46789b8… via @acast

Budget hikes practice costs as chancellor confirms neighbourhood plans gponline.com/budget-hikes-p…

Trust takes on £300m commissioning budget in IHO-style deal hsj.co.uk/integrated-car…

Raid on GP enhanced services cash could fund neighbourhood contracts gponline.com/raid-gp-enhanc…

Third of GPs to quit within five years as RCGP warns of 'mass exodus' gponline.com/third-gps-quit…

Green light for 50% ICB staff cuts as NHS redundancy cash agreed gponline.com/green-light-50…

Critical incident declared after EPR launch hsj.co.uk/technology-and…

Time and again we told @NHSEngland & @DHSCgovuk @wesstreeting @SKinnock that this roll out of online consultations isn’t ready. We were ignored. Our concerns dismissed. The software isn’t safe. Here’s some real life examples of what’s going on now. It’s frightening….

How are ICBs spending the £102m GP premises fund? gponline.com/icbs-spending-…

We’ve responded to a Times report about a letter sent in error to GP practices by their LMC. This was not a BMA communication, and its content does not represent our position. Full statement from @thomasdolphin @doctor_katie ⬇️

Government launches review of 'not fit for purpose' GP funding formula gponline.com/government-lau…

Inadequate government safeguards on online consultations 'risk tragedy', say GPs gponline.com/inadequate-gov…