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14
Jun 2016
Poorer levels of GP care linked to most deprived areas of England
The British Medical Association has warned that the most deprived areas of England are facing poorer levels of GP care because of an over-use of locum GPs.
Whereas the national average use by Clinical Commissioning Groups of GP locums is 3.4%, in some areas this is as high as 18%, and the BMA have warned that this is an unacceptable “variation in care quality”.
The most deprived CCG area in the country is NHS Bradford City, which holds the second highest use of locum or temporary GPs (18% in September 2015), whereas nearby NHS Harrogate in North Yorkshire is one of the most affluent CCG areas in the country, with only 1% of GPs being classed as locums.
Dr Akram Khan, clinical chair of NHS Bradford City, said that in some instances, practices had been fully staffed by locum GPs, saying “There is a recruitment crisis within this profession.”
He went on to say “Working in an area like Bradford can be difficult as we have a range of socio-economic challenges and lots of patients from different ethnic backgrounds.
“We have to remember doctors are effectively working in a market place, they can choose where to work and therefore many choose to work in areas where the demands are less strenuous.”
Deputy chair of the BMA General Practitioners Committee, Dr Richard Vautrey, says that patients in deprived areas could be receiving an inferior quality of care. He said “There is a real risk of a variation in care quality between areas and that is unacceptable.
“There are CCGs that struggle to recruit GPs because there aren’t enough doctors to go round. If practices are reliant on using locum doctors then patients don’t get the continuity of care that they would otherwise get from a full time GP.”
NHS England have acknowledged the issue and are planning to recruit 5,000 more GPs by the year 2020. Their plan will also include granting £20,000 bursaries in areas that have difficulty recruiting new doctors.
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Posted by Karen Motley, Paralegal, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (karenmotley@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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