Your guide to influencing for change

Funding

• It's clear that general practice and primary care services are the bedrock of the healthcare system, with 90% of patient interactions taking place in primary care. But primary care currently receives less than 10% of overall funding.

Demand

• Demand for general practice services is currently outstripping supply. General practice delivered 14% more appointments in 2023 compared to 2019, but as of September 2024, NHS England has the equivalent of 1,557 fewer FTE GPs than it did in September 2015. 

Ratios

• The increase in patient need paired with a decline in GP numbers means that each GP is now responsible for 6.3% more patients on average than in 2019.

Workloads

• GPs are feeling the pressure like never before and are reporting dangerously high levels of workload. 77% of GPs have said that excessive workload has impacted patient safety.

Unnecessary bureaucracy

• GPs estimate they spend a third of their time on unnecessary workload and bureaucracy, rather than spending time with their patients. 

Workforce crisis

• Unsustainable levels of work forcing GPs to leave the profession, with 48% of GPs reporting struggling with their workload pressure (PDF file, 1.3 MB), and 60% of GPs experiencing a decline in their mental health over the past year. This added strain accelerates burnout, further exacerbating the workforce crisis with 42% of considering leaving the profession within the next five years.

Infrastructure

• General practice infrastructure is also falling apart. 30% of GPs report that their work PC or laptop software is not fit for purpose, 33% say their practice building is inadequate for providing care for patients.

Investing in the health of the nation

• If general practice is to accommodate the shift of care from hospital into the community, then the Government must match their ambition with concrete action and deliver on their promise to shift NHS funding into primary care, and shift resources into general practice. Backed by the right level of investment, GPs will be set up to deliver the best care, in the right places for our patients.

Getting the people in place to meet our patients needs 

• To meet patient need, we need clear actions to ensure capacity to train more GPs and do more to keep GPs in the workforce for longer. 
• To retain GPs, NHSE must develop a National Retention Strategy for general practice, backed by ring-fenced national funding, oversight and guidance to ensure consistency. NHSE should also review the Long Term Workforce Plan with a greater focus on GP retention, and the Government should establish an independent workforce projection statutory body. 
• To train more GP, concerted action is needed to train more trainers, offer more support to existing trainers, and to expand the physical space for training placements in general practice.

Giving GPs the tools they need to deliver care

• Issues with GP infrastructure needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency if we are going to rescue primary care. The government should dedicate at least £2 billion worth of funding to improve GP infrastructure - including IT systems – so that GPs and their teams can do their jobs properly and our patients’ experience and access to care is no longer compromised. 
• If GPs are to fully harness the benefits of digital technology, the 10 Year Health Plan will need to address the current barriers that exist in general practice (e.g., IT infrastructure, training, digital literacy). 
• Advances in digital technology have the power to transform care. If the potential benefits of this technology are harnessed properly and safely it could significantly improve the provision of holistic, personalised care, help in reducing health inequalities and significantly enhance the services available to patients out-of-hours or in remote locations. It is vital that any initiatives are integrated safely and do not come at the expense of the security of patients' personal data.

Freeing up GPs to spend more time with patients

• To allow GPs to spend more time focusing on patients and deliver more continuity of care, we need to reduce top-down contractual requirements and bureaucracy and prevent the inappropriate transfer of workload from the rest of the health system into general practice.

1. Get in touch

As your membership body we are here to help you. The guide below offers some tips, but we are keen to know if you hear back from your MP and support you for any visit.

• Contact the team

2. Inform your colleagues

Different practices will have different rules and systems for gaining permission to invite politicians to their practice. In many practices it will be important to get the permission of all the partners before you arrange a visit.

3. Invite the candidates

If you'd like to invite them to visit your practice, you can use a template letter designed by the RCGP which you can edit with your own information and send to your MP here:

• Invite your MP

4. Arrange the visit

It may take some time for them to respond. Once you have received a response from them, they will most likely put you in touch with their staff to arrange the visit. Remember to ask how long their visit is likely to be so that you can plan accordingly.  

You may be asked to give a short summary of the issue that you would like to raise so that they can be prepared.

5. Plan the visit

Once you have confirmed the date and time, confirm with them how long they can stay with you and what you would like to do:

1. Meet GPs and staff?
   Make sure practice staff are aware of the visit. You may want to work with the practice staff to decide responsibilities on the day of the visit.
    
2. Invite the local media for a photocall?
   If you and the MP are both happy, then you can invite local media and any other guests with plenty of notice. If local press photographers or videographers are going to attend, or if you want to share photos on social media, you need to make sure permissions are sought.
    
3. Agree on social media posts
   Politicians generally want to use social media to publicise their visit. You can also thank them for coming on your own social media alongside a picture.

6. Know what you want to say and show

This is the most important part of the visit. They will want to know what the issues facing general practice means to you specifically – how it’s impacted you professionally and personally, and most importantly what it means for your patients.

This doesn’t mean you should only talk about the negatives: this is also a chance to talk about how you help your patients and about any innovative work that your practice does.

And don’t worry about the national picture. You can access national statistics and key messages on our website. However, the main aim of the visit will be to share your local experience.

7. Prepare an agenda

The visit does not have to be seamless, but it might be helpful to prepare an outline a structure for the visit. You may be asked to share this outline with the MP’s office, so they know what to expect on the day.

Think about what activities will showcase the practice and when you’ll get a chance to talk one-to-one to your MP in a quieter space. Be mindful of the time each segment.

8. Send a "thank you"

Send a letter or email to thank them for the meeting. If you committed to provide them with any additional information, or a local press release, you could include this in your message.

9. Consider sending out a press release

After the visit you may want to reach out to some local papers and news outlets in your area who might be interested in covering your candidates visit. The easiest way to do this is to search your local newspaper, radio station or TV outlet online and drop them an email with a press release attached.

Alternatively, you might agree with your MP that they will publicise the visit.

10. Tell us about your visit

Please do let us know how the visit went. We're ready to answer any questions you may have, or support with follow-up actions after the meeting.