Guidance to help GPs ease their workload pressures and find more time for direct patient care has been published by the BMA. The guidance, Managing Workload to Deliver Safe Patient Care, provides practical steps practices can take to address rising workloads.It is not aimed at restricting patient services but finding ways of freeing up GPs’ time for patient consultations by halting inappropriate, excessive and unresourced work.
BMA GPs committee chair Chaand Nagpaul (pictured right) said: ‘The demand on GP practices has far outstripped capacity, and this is having a direct effect on patient services, with longer waits for a GP appointment and many practices struggling to provide adequate essential services for their patients…
‘This guidance gives practical advice on how GPs can focus on providing essential services to their patients and challenge some of the inappropriate and unsustainable demand on practices.’
Dr Nagpaul added that while these solutions would help, politicians needed to address the long-term issues of deep financial and capacity problems.
Supporting doctors
The guidance covers:
- Reviewing and limiting voluntary additional work, enhanced services or schemes which detract from GPs’ core work
- Reducing clinical workload that is inappropriate for GPs or practices
- Working with patients on management of their conditions
- Engaging with neighbouring practices to manage workload and provide support systems
- Making the most of new ways of working, including implementing new IT developments, such as online appointment bookings and repeat prescription orders.
The guidance is designed primarily for GPs in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Although it may be useful to GPs in Scotland, the Scottish Government is in talks with the BMA about how to alleviate the pressures facing GPs and the association will be examining its own solutions.
The GPC is also urging clinical commissioning groups and NHS managers to support GPs by halting inappropriate workload demands.