GPs say longer hours a waste of resources

Published on Wednesday 16 April 2008 22:10

THE Scottish Government's commitment to making GPs open their surgeries for longer hours is facing fresh opposition from doctors who claim it is an inappropriate use of resources.

A British Medical Association (BMA) conference will next week hear that some GPs have decided to forfeit the extra cash rather than open for longer in the evenings and at weekends.

The meeting will be told that the millions of pounds being put into extended hours is "an inappropriate use of finite resources" which does not help the patients most in need.

Colette Maule, a GP in Lanarkshire, said her practice would not be offering extended hours, and there was limited support for the initiative.

The conference in Clydebank will also hear concerns about under-funding of the Scottish Ambulance Service and problems with the computerised cervical screening system.

Last month the BMA said a poll showed that the majority of GPs had opted for a plan put forward by the Scottish Government and health minister Nicola Sturgeon – but only because it was not as bad as an alternative option on the table. It will see GPs working an extra 30 minutes a week for every 1,000 registered patients. In return, the Scottish Government promised 9.5 million in extra funding, plus 6.5 million diverted from money already awarded to GPs.

But GPs feel that putting the money into extended hours is a waste of resources.

Dr Maule, who practises in Wishaw, said she did not feel there was huge support for extended hours in Lanarkshire – a view also shared by GPs elsewhere in Scotland.

But she said it was up to individual GPs to decide if they wanted to offer longer hours in return for the extra cash on offer.

"In my practice, we are not going to do it," she said. "We feel that we would be better concentrating our efforts on the majority of our patients who would need our care and are better cared for in normal hours. We are also an all-female practice which raises safety issues about opening in the evenings.

"We don't think it's the best use of our resources in the practice."

Dr Maule said there was no evidence that extended hours would tackle health inequalities or improve care.

"It is just an access issue and companies should be protecting the health of their staff by allowing them the time off to see a doctor."

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said details of how extended hours would work had now been agreed with the BMA. "It offers a number of advantages for GPs in Scotland including new funding and flexibilities around how extended hours will be provided," she said.

Other concerns being raised at next week's Scottish Conference of Local Medical Committees include claims that the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) is "struggling to meet its obligations due to chronic under-funding".

GPs will highlight fears that category A emergency calls are automatically prioritised ahead of their requests for urgent patient transfers.

Dr Brian Fitzsimons, a GP in Tain in the Highlands, said he had heard of a case where someone who had burnt their lip eating a chip was sent a category A ambulance.

"We are not saying that some calls are not emergencies, but there needs to be more common sense when prioritising ambulances," he said.

Dr Fitzsimons said there was also concern about increased single-manning of ambulances in rural areas, which was becoming a routine practice.

A spokesman for the SAS said: "Category A is an immediately life-threatening call and it is wholly appropriate that these calls should have the highest priority."

CONCERNS OVER RUSH TO CHANGE

DOCTORS have voiced their opposition to the "headlong rush" to create super-surgeries as a new report called for balanced debate on the issue.

The British Medical Association (BMA) said the clinics would result in the "commercialisation of patient care" as private firms vie for contracts to run the centres.

While the health think tank, the King's Fund, said that while the clinics could "present real opportunities" to treat people with long-term conditions like diabetes, it should not be assumed they will improve patient care.

Polyclinics are effectively super-surgeries that house family doctors alongside other services such as diagnostic testing, some surgery, physiotherapy or pharmacy.