Health minister says BMA leaders ‘turning union into farce’ in online GP access row
A minister has accused leaders of the British Medical Association (BMA) of being “determined to turn their organization into a farce” after a motion was passed calling for GPs to refuse to comply with new online access requirements for surgeries.
While Stephen Kinnock claimed the government wanted to “work constructively with the BMA”, he said the motion would “put patient safety at risk at a critical time before winter”.
From 1 October, GP practices in England were required to keep their online consultation platforms open during business hours for non-urgent appointment requests, medicine inquiries and admin requests.
But at the UK LMC (local medical committee) conference on Friday, a motion was passed calling for the requirements to be removed and insisting that online consultations be shortened once safe working limits are reached.
The motion condemned the changes as “a cynical political stunt that is unfunded, unsafe and knowingly unachievable in the context of the collapse of the existing workforce.”
It also called on the GPCE, the British Medical Association’s (BMA) GP committee in England, to “prepare options for action”, including disobeying the instructions, if the government refuses to revise them.
But Health Minister Stephen Kinnock hit out at the union, which has had an increasingly tense relationship with Labor in recent months, saying: “The current leadership of the BMA, whether on the GP committee or junior doctors committee, appears determined to turn their organization into a farce.
“We have always made clear that we want to work constructively with the BMA, but they remain firmly ahead of the changes that are vital to patient care and the progress their members want to see.
“This latest increase is based on lies and will put patient safety at risk at a critical time before winter.”
Mr Kinnock added: “It’s ludicrous to say the government has betrayed general practice; we’ve put GPs at the heart of our 10-year health plan, delivered a £1.1bn funding boost, recruited 2,500 more GPs and cut red tape – we’ve also launched a review into the distribution of GP funding.”
It comes amid a growing rift between Labor and the BMA over an ongoing pay dispute, with the union claiming junior doctors’ pay is 20 per cent lower in real terms than in 2008, with many struggling to find work.
Wes Streeting, who last week proposed a new support package for junior doctors, has refused to budge on headline pay, describing the BMA’s pay demands as “inconceivable”.
The union rejected the offer, saying it did not go far enough and the government should increase wages.
The recently passed motion said the guidelines, which apply to main working hours of 8am to 6.30pm, “reduce care to just marked targets and put patients at risk”.
He insisted that practices must remain flexible to provide access appropriate to their patients’ needs.
GPs have previously said the changes have led to people submitting requests for life-threatening conditions via non-emergency forms.
They told Pulse magazine that on forms designed for non-emergency situations, patients reported difficulty breathing, rectal bleeding and severe vomiting.
A survey of 431 GPs and practice managers conducted by the same organization last week found 67 per cent of patients were concerned about patient safety since the order.
It comes after the BMA fell out with the government over changes to online access.
The union argues that specific measures were not taken to support the change and that additional staff were not employed to manage demands.
Staff claim this could put patient safety at risk as they scramble to find the most urgent cases out of fear it would take too much time to review online requests.
Meanwhile, the BMA council chairman said there was “a gulf” between clinicians and the government.
In a statement, Dr Tom Dolphin said: “As representatives of doctors across the UK, we care deeply about our patients, but doctors’ ability to provide the quality of care that patients deserve depends on the support of and collaboration with government and NHS leaders.
“This cooperation must be built on trust and achieved through genuine, sincere and direct participation.
“But what is clear is that, with four major doctors’ groups in conflict with the government in England, there is a gulf between the experience of specialist clinicians who care for patients every day in GP practices and hospitals across the country and those making decisions in Whitehall.”
He added: “Our GP committee has repeatedly warned the Government that making unfulfilled promises to the public about online access would push some practices to the brink, reduce available appointments and risk urgent questions being missed.
“Having been to the LMC conference of grassroots GPs on Friday, the frustration of colleagues working at the coalface of general practice could not be clearer.
“We want to work with the government to resolve all these disputes for the benefit of everyone.”
