‘General practice infrastructure is simply not up to scratch’ warns College Chair

RCGP responds to NHS Confederation and NHS Providers survey data on infrastructure and capital investment, Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of the Royal College of GPs said:

“This data tallies with what our members are telling us, that general practice infrastructure - the surgeries in which we care for our patients - is simply not up to scratch.

“Our last survey of members found that two in five GPs considered their premises not fit for purpose, with 88% of those citing insufficient numbers of consulting rooms and 75% citing insufficient space to take on additional GP trainees. We hear stories of leaking roofs, mouldy walls, and consultations in converted cupboards and portacabins. Our IT provision is also inadequate - 30% of GPs report that their computers at work are not fit for purpose and 56% report that there are such fundamental problems with their IT that they cannot effectively exchange information with NHS Trusts.

“Poor infrastructure does not just make for a difficult working environment for GPs and their teams or a poor experience for patients receiving care in dilapidated rooms, it can have a serious knock-on effect to the amount of care a practice can provide. Without enough consultation rooms of adequate size, the number of GPs, nurses or other staff a practice can hire or train is limited, this in turn limits the numbers of appointments they can offer.

“If we are to deliver on the key priorities that the Government has set out – moving more care into the community - then we need to see dedicated investment to address the issue of poor infrastructure. We know that care in the community is more cost effective and patients want to be treated closer to home, but we need support to do this, not only to fix our dilapidated premises but to prepare them for the future. We need to ensure that we have an adequate environment in general practice to employ and train GPs, and other healthcare professionals, and deliver the patient care and services they need.”

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.