You have probably noticed that something is wrong amongst all GP Practices. Look at the difficulty you have in getting an appointment here and at other local surgeries. When you do get through, it may not be an appointment with a GP at all.
General Practice is collapsing. Every practice across England is struggling to keep its doors open.
We value you as our patients. We know that most patients value us too, especially when they need us regularly. You know we can deal with most of your health problems, keep you out of hospital, and have your best interests at heart. The problem is with the mismanagement of the NHS.
As GPs we are experts in general medical practice – trained over more than 10 years to deal with complex problems, spot serious symptoms, and decide when you need specialist help at the hospital. General Practice deals with 90% of ALL NHS contacts yet does not receive the required funding.
But did you know that we as your practice receives just £107.57 per year for each patient for ALL your appointments regardless of your health needs. That’s less than the cost of your annual TV licence. Demand for appointments is increasing, people are becoming more ill, more people have long term conditions and yet practice funding in England has fallen by £660million since 2019 whilst costs to run practices and staffing wages have gone up.
It’s just 30p a day for every patient registered with us – less than the cost of an apple.
We believe general practice deserves a bigger slice of NHS funding so we can train and hire more GPs, deliver the services you require and make it easier for you and your loved ones to get appointments to see your GP and practice team.
GPs want the same things that you do. We believe nobody should struggle to see their family doctor.
General Practice should be as it once was – a familiar family doctor, offering continuity of care in a surgery full of friendly familiar faces within a safe building where you knew you would get the care you needed.
Why did they build a new medical centre if they can’t afford GPs – shouldn’t your money be going into this?
To clarify, the new Ratby Medical Centre was built and is funded entirely through a loan taken out by the GP Partners of the practice. This decision was made at our own financial risk, as we were committed to providing a higher standard of care to the community, which the old premises could no longer support. However, while the new facility is larger and better equipped, it does not result in additional funding for hiring more staff.
Why Collective Action?
The purpose of this action is to put pressure on the government to increase investment in primary care and amend the GP contract, allowing us to hire sufficient doctors, nurses, and staff to provide adequate appointments and ensure safe working conditions. As patients, you may not notice most of the industrial action, but we have had to cap daily patient contacts per GP to a recommended safe limit of 25. Once this capacity is reached, we will need to redirect patients to local pharmacies, urgent care settings, and 111.
At Ratby Medical Centre, we have consistently gone above and beyond to accommodate more patients, often exceeding the recommended 25 contacts per GP each day. However, this situation is neither safe nor sustainable, and immediate action is necessary to ensure the survival of General Practice. It’s important to understand that, although the waiting room may sometimes appear empty, our team is constantly working behind the scenes. This includes handling prescriptions, reviewing test results, managing hospital correspondence, issuing sick notes, providing end-of-life care, and supervising team members such as pharmacists and first-contact physiotherapists. We are also responsible for tasks like vaccinations, chronic disease management, medication safety reviews, and more.
This is not a decision we have made lightly, but we fully support the nationwide and countywide campaign to secure better funding for primary care. This is essential for ensuring that surgeries can move forward with the staffing and capacity needed to deliver the high-quality care that all patients deserve.
We remain hopeful that these issues will be resolved quickly, paving the way for a brighter future for general practice.
General Practice has been broken. Help us fix it.
GPS ARE ON YOUR SIDE
Dr. James Ogle, Dr. Reema Parwaiz, Dr. Zan Parwaiz and Dr. Paul Parwaiz (GP Partners)
