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03
Nov 2015
Government plans set out for ‘time-wasting’ referrals
According to the Department of Health, GPs’ time is currently being wasted in the referral of patients back for hospital outpatient appointments.
The move has been announced as part of a range of measures, which will include ratings for NHS services, such as cancer care.
However, the doctors’ union the BMA, has said that care would not be improved by “simplistic” ratings.
When an outpatient appointment is missed, patients are generally required to return to their GP in order to be referred back to the hospital, and the Department of Health has said that 2.5% of GP time is currently being taken up with these re-referrals.
Officials have said that up to 27% of GP appointments could be avoided if there was an improved use of technology and better coordination between GPs and hospitals.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said that some areas of the NHS have been “very opaque for a very long time”, and that the new ratings would highlight areas that need improvement.
“We are being bold enough and brave enough to do what no other country is doing, which is actually being honest about the quality of care in different places.
“By being more transparent than ever before about crucial services and freeing up more time for GPs to care, we really can make NHS patients the most powerful in the world.”
Chairman of the Royal College of GPs, Dr Maureen Baker, said “Measures to reduce bureaucracy in general practice, which will allow us to spend more time with our patients and streamline our patients’ experience of the health service are encouraging.
“We look forward to hearing more details about these plans.
“However, we question whether the introduction of Ofsted-style ratings systems for area health teams will improve patient care whilst there is no evidence that this does improve outcomes in a health setting.”
The British Medical Association’s Dr Chaand Nagpaul, said that the plan was a “step in the right direction”.
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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), Medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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