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UK GPs’ historic collective action ‘serves as a warning’
GPs have started a work-to-rule action that could go on ‘indefinitely’, leading some to ask if the same thing will happen in Australia?
The British Medical Association says it has been left with no choice but to take drastic action as general practice remains ‘broken’.
Amid growing fears Australia’s healthcare system is falling into line with the NHS’s failings, thousands of GPs in the United Kingdom have launched unprecedented industrial action in a desperate attempt to secure better funding and conditions.
The British Medical Association (BMA) and its members have started a collective action, after 99% of GPs rejected a 1.9% funding increase.
It is a decision which could see some UK GPs putting a cap on their daily patient numbers or changing patient data sharing arrangements.
There are now widespread fears the work-to-rule action will cause disruptions across the already overburdened NHS, with BMA GP Committee for England Chair Dr Kate Bramall calling it ‘an act of desperation’.
‘For too long, we’ve been unable to provide the care we want to,’ she said.
‘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.’
The action has left RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins more concerned than ever that Australia could be heading down the same road, saying the action ‘serves as a warning to our Government’.
‘This is what happens if we fail to invest and recognise the contribution that general practice makes to our healthcare system,’ she told newsGP.
‘Australian GPs are watching the UK closely to see how this unfolds.’
The move against the NHS, which began on 1 August after a ballot showed 98.3% of voters in favour, is not a strike and GPs will not be closing their doors.
Instead, the BMA has put forward 10 measures GPs can take, and practices can choose which ones they apply.
Options include choosing to not perform work they are not formally contracted for, not sharing patient data unless it is in their best interest, or referring patients directly to specialist care rather than following more complex NHS processes.
Other options include switching off NHS software which tries to cut prescribing costs and limiting the number of patients seen in a day to 25.
The RACGP has been warning of the dire consequences Australia faces if it falls into line with the NHS, highlighted by the fact that UK-trained GPs are leaving their home countries in droves to escape the system.
Last month, the UK announced that money will be shifted from hospitals into general practice in a bid to improve access to family doctors following decades of underfunding, in a move the RACGP described as a ‘big red flag’ for Australia.
Recent UK reports also laid bare the consequences of lesser-trained UK health professionals missing life-threatening diagnoses, as well as a lack of primary care investment.
It is the first time in 60 years UK GPs have staged industrial action, which Dr Higgins says ‘demonstrates the degree of distress they have been under for a long time’.
‘General practice has been devalued, defunded, and the role of GPs has been further devalued through role substitution and a lack of respect and recognition,’ she said.
Dr Bramall said the UK Government has been given ‘countless opportunities to address the funding crisis in general practice’.
‘Still nothing was done,’ she said.
‘Practices are now struggling to keep the lights on, can’t afford to hire much-needed GPs and other staff, and some have even closed for good’.
The NHS issued a statement asking the public to ‘still come forward as usual for care during collective action by GP services’.
‘It is vital that patients still attend their appointments unless they are told otherwise, and practices should inform you of any changes to services,’ it states.
‘NHS teams have worked hard to plan for disruption and to mitigate this where possible to ensure services continued to be provided for patients.’
To avoid sliding down the same path, Dr Higgins says the Australian Government must now make a commitment to dedicate 10% of the health budget to general practice.
‘If we fail to invest in general practice, we may end up down the UK pathway.’
There is no end in sight for the action, with the BMA stating that ‘because GPs will be following their working contracts only, this means that collective action can carry on indefinitely if necessary’.
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