Collective action -

What is Collective Action?

On 1st August 2024, General Practice in England entered a period of GP collective action. More than 8,500 GPs in England took part in a ballot run by the British Medical Association; 98.3% voted in favour of taking part in collective action.

Collective action is not the same as industrial action but means that some GPs may stop or reduce certain work. Historically, practices have "over worked": that is, they have worked above and beyond their contracts to keep up with patient demand. Collective action will see this "over work" reduce or stop.

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Why Is Collective Action Happening?

General Practice funding is less than £108 per patient per year, this equates to at most 2-3 contacts per year per patient, compared to the cost of an outpatient appointment estimated to start at £130-£400, there is something about demand and reasonable expectation.  

The £108 per patient, is to run practice premises and employ staff, this is not enough for GPs to employ enough staff to give patients the care they deserve.  The financial situation is unsustainable, with many Practices having to shut, because they cannot afford to keep going

Collective action - statement from St Martins Practice

Despite warning the Government that we’re being forced to do more with less, General Practice has not been given the funding it needs to handle growing pressures.

Here at St Martins, the Appointment Hub system that we introduced in September 2023 brought our daily workload within our acceptable safe limits. However, we continue to feel workload pressures from:

  • The number of patients who are waiting to book an appointment with us: we are unable to meet patient demand
  • increasing administration often caused by pressures in other parts of the health and care system which takes our time and attention away from our patients and from doing the things that will make a difference to their wellbeing.

We have joined Collective Action as we believe that General Practice joining with one voice, may prompt the new Government to hear us.

What will change at St Martins due to collective action

  1. We will start declining to carry out work that we are not contracted to do, even when in the past we have done it on the grounds that it may be more convenient for patients.
    Hospital consultants frequently asked us to do work on their behalf. However we are not funded to do such work, neither are we required to do by the terms of our NHS contract.
    Such work includes carrying out blood tests & other tests which the consultant has requested & the communciation of results for tests which werer ordered by consultants. The principle is: the doctor that orders the test should both administer the test (or their immediate team should) and follow-up the results of that test with the patient.

  2. We are requested to complete unecessarily long forms in order to make a referral. We will naturally continue to provide all the necessary clinical information that is necessary.
  3. When the GP decides a referral is required then we will start ensuring that the referral is accepted. (Increasingly, and presumably to alleviate cost & workload pressures, hospitals are on occasion not accepting the GP referral but instead returning it to us with some advice & guidance for the patient to continue to treated by the GP/practice. We will no longer accept such advice & guidance as a response to our referral).
  4. We have introduced a daily Work Limit on our same day work. Click here for more information about this.

GP Collective action - what is staying the same

 

GPs are not going on strike and we will remain open as usual.

There is no proposed action that will create a breach of our contracts. During collective action, we will continue to:

  • Make appointments available
  • Provide advice or care to patients by another means
  • Give advice on alternative services
  • Provide access to prescriptions, long-term condition management, vaccinations, make diagnoses and do referrals (including where clinically urgent)

Work Limit

To keep our workload safe & sustainable as we head into the busy winter period, and after much consideration, we have taken this step: to switch up the number of routine appointments we provide to vulnerable and complex patients for their routine and proactive care.

With our limited funding, we can achieve this only by switching down the workload of our "same day service", by having a daily work limit.

Click anywhere in this box for more