Funding A&G services ‘a good step’ – RCGP responds to elective care plan

Responding to the Government’s elective care plan, published today, in particular the initiative to reform Advice and Guidance services, Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of the RCGP, said: 

“When waiting lists for care are currently so long, patients get sicker, and the impact on GPs and our teams is significant as we look after those who are waiting as best we can - so it’s in everyone’s best interests to reduce the NHS backlog and improve patients’ experiences of receiving care.

"Advice and Guidance services have the potential to support GPs to refer appropriately and deliver care to patients whilst they are waiting for specialist treatment. But in the past GPs have reported issues with using A&G services, including that they shift care into general practice without appropriate resource and that they can be used to reject necessary referrals, so it’s encouraging that the A&G service is being looked at as part of the Government’s wider plan to reduce referral waiting times. 

“We have always been supportive of the Government’s aspiration to shift more care into the community as long as it is properly resourced. We are therefore pleased to see that general practice will be funded to help improve the referral experience for patients, by increasing use of A&G services. As ever, the devil will be in the detail, which we look forward to seeing - but this is a good step in enabling services to move out of hospitals and into the community, where care is more cost effective and where patients want to receive care.”

Further information

RCGP press office: 0203 188 7659
press@rcgp.org.uk

Notes to editors

The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 54,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education, training, research and clinical standards.