East Quay Patients – Update: March 2008

In January we alerted patients to an imminent contract change in general practice. We asked for your help and over 1000 people have given their support at East Quay and almost all other Somerset surgeries have joined the campaign.

Is it just a Somerset issue?

No. This is a national issue, not a local issue. In February the British Medical Association asked all GPs to vote on the contract changes and the governments management of primary care. 27000 GPs voted in ballot and the results for England were:

o93% of GPs believe that the direction of government policy to expand private commercial provision of NHS general practice will be detrimental to patients and the service as a whole

o2% of GPs believe that the direction of government policy to expand private commercial provision of NHS general practice will be beneficial to patients and the service as a whole

o5% of GPs believe that the direction of government policy to expand private commercial provision of NHS general practice will be neither beneficial nor detrimental to patients and the service as a whole

In response to the question ‘How confident are you in this government’s handling of the NHS?’, GPs said:

o0% were very confident and 2% were fairly confident

o15% were not very confident and 82% were not at all confident

o1% did not reply

What is our position?

Our position has not changed. We believe that General Practice and that continuity of care is the cornerstone of the NHS. In time the changes could see the end of General Practice as we know it and see the current service replaced with surgeries run by large corporate business. Our campaign has attracted government attention. We hope that it will lead the government to re-think their blanket approach to encourage private companies to set up new primary care services across England.

If you support use, please write to Gordon Brown - Click here for a draft letter.