PRESS RELEASE: GPSurvival response to NHS England plans to create resilience coaches.
NHS England have announced plans to train 160 ‘resilience coaches’ for GPs facing burnout. This is from an undisclosed amount of funding, and aims to improve retention of GPs given the ravaging threats to GP’s emotional wellbeing. Issues such as exponentially escalating and underfunded workload and increasing, unevidenced CQC regulation are combined with rising numbers of vexatious complaints fuelled by a consumer view of healthcare provision, rocketing indemnity costs. Persistent media bashing of our profession is also taking its toll.
Whilst the initiative may help individual GPs in select circumstances, we are keen to know the expected outcomes and evaluations taken by NHS England given the use of public funds to tackle the workforce retention issue which does not address any of the root causes.
There are over 35000 GPs in England and we are keen to know how 160 resilience coaches will benefit our profession and if geographical spread of applicants will be taken into account.
There is no detail as to how GPs will then access this resilience service and who will bear the cost. This is a salient point given reducing practice income and increasing individual costs such as indemnity and mandatory subscriptions.
Additionally we would ask to be informed of the tender process that has allocated these funds to FMLM and HEE rather than supporting existing resilience structures which are evidenced as effective such as Resilient GP and the RCGP and its faculties.
It is unclear if GPs have been polled to learn if they would find such a service useful, or if the undisclosed amount of funding spent on this project may have been better allocated in order to support our already struggling workforce.