GPS PRESS RELEASE 14/1/17:
REPLY TO PRIME MINSTER’S STATEMENT THAT GPs WILL BE ORDERED TO WORK A 7 DAY WEEK.
GP Survival calls upon the medical profession and the public to stand up to the Government’s outrageous attempt to blame GPs for the current crisis in hospital and A+E services.
This attempt by the Prime Minister and the Health Secretary to blame underfunded and beleaguered GP services and now patients for the crisis in A+E services shows a desperate attempt by the Government to shift responsibility and blame for the mishandling of the NHS to the medical profession and the public.
Let’s be reminded that In 1987 there were over 297,000 hospital beds available in England. By 2015 the number is just 130,000. The drop in mental health beds has also fallen from 67,000 in 1987 to 19,000 in 2015.
Many patients are losing their GP surgeries and numerous A+Es and maternity units are set to be closed under proposed Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs).
Even Sarah Wollaston, a Conservative MP, Doctor, and the chair of the Parliamentary Health Committee has seen fit to tweet: “Beyond belief that anyone would think that attacking an overstretched and demoralised primary care would serve any purpose whatsoever”.
GPs should not be made the scapegoats of a crisis that many frontline NHS staff and patients groups have warned the government of repeatedly.
We consider this statement by the Prime Minister totally unacceptable and a blatant attempt to shift blame away from herself for presiding over the worst NHS crisis in history.
We also call on our representatives the BMA General Practice Committee (GPC) and the RCGP not only to denounce the latest statement from the PM but to stand up and support a vote of no confidence on the Health Secretary for the mishandling of the NHS and for putting patient lives at risk.
See our video below:
GPS Committee: Matt Mayer, Thomas Jones, Hussain Gandhi, Raquel Delgado, Preeti Shukla, Andy McIntosh, Allison Thomas, Sophie Quinney, James McGlew, Rebecca Ellen Jones, Ed Pooley, Jeremy Newman, Heather Ryan.
For further information, or to arrange an interview, please contact: