‘Dissatisfaction is always troubling, but we’re totally overstretched’ says College Chair

College Chair Kamila Hawthorne featured in The Guardian with comment responding to a study from the Institute for Government reporting falling rates of patient satisfaction with GP services. Professor Hawthorne said:

“GPs and their teams are doing their absolute best to ensure their patients receive the highest standard of care possible, so it is troubling to hear of dissatisfaction with general practice.

“We recognise that many patients want to see their GP face to face, and the majority of GP appointments are carried out face to face - 64% in February. However, we also know that many patients appreciate the convenience of remote appointments which can be delivered safely and securely with virtual technologies or over the phone. It is important that patients get the consultation that is best suited to their needs and the decision over the method of consultation should be a shared one between the patient and GP.

“The unfortunate reality is that general practice today is totally overstretched: patient need for GP care and services continues to outstrip resources following years of neglect and underfunding by successive governments. GPs and our teams are now delivering more appointments than ever before - 367 million last year, more than a million per day – but with just a handful more qualified GPs than in 2019.

“Despite these pressures, GPs are continuing to provide high quality and safe care. Other recent surveys on patient satisfaction have indicated that the majority of patients are satisfied with GP services. Data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) in February found three quarters of patients who contacted their GP practice perceived their overall experience of the practice as either ‘Very good’ or ‘Good’.

“The suggestions made in the IFG report to extend consultations to a standard length of 15 minutes is something which the College has long been calling for and would really benefit patients and the GPs who are caring for them. It is often only through the more in-depth conversations that we can spot symptoms in patients that risk getting worse or are indicative of something more serious. But we need much more capacity if we’re going to provide these longer appointments.

“General practice is struggling and it’s our patients who are bearing the brunt. We are encouraged by the Government’s commitment to moving more care from hospitals into the community, where our patients want to be treated, and which is much more cost-effective for the NHS and the taxpayer, but we need significant investment – including urgent efforts to recruit more GPs, retain the existing GP workforce, and ensure that any barriers to GP employment are identified and resolved - if we are to achieve this.

“The forthcoming new 10-year Health Plan must be used as an opportunity to allocate a much greater portion of the NHS budget to primary care so we can provide the care and services that our patients need and deserve.”

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.