Lincolnshire patients could face ‘some disruption’ after GPs take collective action

Patients are being told there will be ‘some disruption to services’ after county GPs announce they are taking ‘collective action’.

GPs across England have announced collective action for the first time in six decades, sparking fears of disruption within health systems across Lincolnshire and the rest of the country.

The British Medical Association confirmed the action after a ballot of more than 8,500 GPs brought back overwhelming results of 98.3% in favour of collective action.

Rebecca Neno, deputy director for system delivery at NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board, said: “While there may be some disruption to services, practices will remain open as usual and patients can make requests by phone, online or by walking in.

“Our message to patients is it is vital you still attend your appointments unless you are told otherwise, and your practice should inform you of any changes to services.

“You should continue to use 111 for urgent medical help when your GP practice is unavailable and if it is a serious or life-threatening emergency call 999.”

Action will last for an “indefinite” amount of time, as family doctors seek to renegotiate terms of their delivery contract, and the facilities made available to GPs to maximise their work.

It has been warned that the action could last for months, but collective action translates to something different to standard strikes and picket lines.

Family doctors will be able to choose from a series of actions set out by the BMA, whether it be limiting the number of patients seen per day, deferring decisions to accept NHS pilot programmes, or switching off NHS software that allows discounted or free prescriptions for some people.

However, many of these actions are focused on spending more time with patients, with action instead designed to show “how problems are generated by NHS wider system and national mismanagement and bureaucracy.”

The BMA says GP practices are working “above and beyond their contracts to keep up with patient demand, while being instructed to offer extra services by NHS England.”

Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, chair of BMA’s GP committee for England (GPCE), said: “We had a huge response to this ballot, and the results are clear – GPs are at the end of their tether. This is an act of desperation.

“For too long, we’ve been unable to provide the care we want to. We are witnessing general practice being broken. The era of the family doctor has been wiped out by recent consecutive governments and our patients are suffering as a result.”

Lincolnshire’s GP sector is already “under a lot of pressure” with current models, providing some 92% of first patient contacts for the NHS, but receiving just 6% of the overall health service funding package.

Dr Reid Baker, the Medical Director of the Lincolnshire Local Medical Committee and a local GP said funding plans have created a “20% reduction in GP funding over the last seven to eight years, while we’re actually doing about 20% more work than we ever were.”

He argued the case for greater funding and staffing resources to get GP provision back on track, which is the overarching point of this collective action called by the BMA.

The announcement of collective action has prompted criticism of the Labour government by Conservative Shadow Health Secretary Victoria Atkins, the MP for Louth & Horncastle in Lincolnshire.

She urged Labour to think against “caving in to unaffordable union demands” and argues the recent pay settlement of 22.3% for the junior doctors will leave some corridors of the health sector feeling “shortchanged.”

“After appeasing junior doctors with a budget-busting 22% pay rise, it comes as no surprise that other healthcare workers are feeling shortchanged by the new Labour government.

“Instead of caving in to unaffordable union demands, the Labour government must resolve this dispute or it is patients and the public who will pay the price with more strikes and higher taxes.”