Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2013 9:47:43 GMT -5
GPs blamed for crisis in out-of-hours health care
www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10016521/GPs-blamed-for-crisis-in-out-of-hours-health-care.html
The failure of GPs to provide proper out-of-hours care has forced millions of extra patients to attend hospital accident and emergency departments, where they do not get the medicines, checks or support they need, the Health Secretary will warn on Thursday.
Jeremy Hunt will say “disastrous” changes to GPs’ working hours have led to an extra four million people attending hospitals annually, a situation he will demand is reversed.
The growing pressure on hospital emergency departments is the “biggest operational challenge” facing the health service, he will warn.
The NHS is conducting a review of out-of-hours care which may lead to GPs again taking responsibility for looking after patients outside normal working hours.
Controversial changes to GPs’ contracts made under Labour in 2004 allowed them to opt out of treating patients outside normal office hours. The review could see that policy reversed.
Mr Hunt believes there has been a “fundamental failure” by the NHS to care properly for the rising number of elderly patients struggling with long-term health conditions.
This means that patients and their relations “end up having to put their energy into fighting the system instead of fighting their illness”.
In a speech, Mr Hunt will add: “When I have been visiting A&Es in recent weeks, hard-working staff talk about the same issues: lack of beds to admit people, poor out-of-hours GP services, inaccessible primary care and a lack of coordination across the health system.
“The decline in out-of-hours care follows the last government’s disastrous changes to the GP contract, since when we have seen four million more people using A&E every year. We must address these system failures, and I am determined we will.”
He will warn that the current system undermines treatment because the assistance patients receive in emergency departments is often not appropriate. “There are simply too many cases where people with long term conditions do not get the medicines, the checks or the support they need,” he will say.
Government sources said that many patients with long-term conditions such as diabetes, dementia and heart problems were being “patched up and sent home quickly” by A&E departments.
Mr Hunt is determined to oversee a “fundamental” overhaul to ensure that there is more preventive treatment and community-based care. Following a reorganisation of the NHS, the Health Secretary no longer has direct responsibility for GPs’ contracts. Before losing responsibility, he made some moderate changes to the contract which aimed to increase incentives for those offering care in the community. NHS England, which now has responsibility for GPs’ contracts, is reviewing out-of-hours care and may insist on reinstating night and weekend working, or suggest other ways to ensure that patients with long-term conditions are treated in the community.
When the contract was initially renegotiated in 2004, GPs had their salaries reduced by £6,000 if they stopped providing care out of hours. However, other changes to the contract meant that average pay rose by a third, with many GPs earning six-figure salaries.
Following the changes, 90 per cent of family doctors stopped providing emergency cover, leaving patients to rely on phone services, agency doctors or hospital visits. In 2004/05, 17.7 million people used England’s A&E departments. By last year, that had risen to 21.7 million.
In opposition, the Conservatives pledged to renegotiate the contracts. However, attempts to change them have proved difficult, and the Government is scrutinising other ways of improving the out-of-hours service. The official review on the issue is expected to report at the end of the May.
Senior Government figures hope that highlighting the failures will add to the pressure for change.
Labour has accused the Government of missing waiting time targets for patients attending A&E units which it said had left emergency services “in crisis”.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, David Cameron and Ed Miliband accused one another of being responsible for the situation.
Mr Hunt will speak at a conference organised by Age UK, which will release a survey showing that 56 per cent of people believe that the Government treats older people badly.
Michelle Mitchell, the charity director-general of Age UK, said: “Our society has changed out of all recognition since the NHS was set up 65 years ago and while the founding principles of the NHS remain as important as ever, we can’t stand still. We too often see older people end up in hospital or losing their independence when services fail to connect and provide the right support at the right time. This is not only deeply distressing for the older person and their family, but means that the NHS is put under further stress.”
Maybe our future.........And the comments are great
www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10016521/GPs-blamed-for-crisis-in-out-of-hours-health-care.html
The failure of GPs to provide proper out-of-hours care has forced millions of extra patients to attend hospital accident and emergency departments, where they do not get the medicines, checks or support they need, the Health Secretary will warn on Thursday.
Jeremy Hunt will say “disastrous” changes to GPs’ working hours have led to an extra four million people attending hospitals annually, a situation he will demand is reversed.
The growing pressure on hospital emergency departments is the “biggest operational challenge” facing the health service, he will warn.
The NHS is conducting a review of out-of-hours care which may lead to GPs again taking responsibility for looking after patients outside normal working hours.
Controversial changes to GPs’ contracts made under Labour in 2004 allowed them to opt out of treating patients outside normal office hours. The review could see that policy reversed.
Mr Hunt believes there has been a “fundamental failure” by the NHS to care properly for the rising number of elderly patients struggling with long-term health conditions.
This means that patients and their relations “end up having to put their energy into fighting the system instead of fighting their illness”.
In a speech, Mr Hunt will add: “When I have been visiting A&Es in recent weeks, hard-working staff talk about the same issues: lack of beds to admit people, poor out-of-hours GP services, inaccessible primary care and a lack of coordination across the health system.
“The decline in out-of-hours care follows the last government’s disastrous changes to the GP contract, since when we have seen four million more people using A&E every year. We must address these system failures, and I am determined we will.”
He will warn that the current system undermines treatment because the assistance patients receive in emergency departments is often not appropriate. “There are simply too many cases where people with long term conditions do not get the medicines, the checks or the support they need,” he will say.
Government sources said that many patients with long-term conditions such as diabetes, dementia and heart problems were being “patched up and sent home quickly” by A&E departments.
Mr Hunt is determined to oversee a “fundamental” overhaul to ensure that there is more preventive treatment and community-based care. Following a reorganisation of the NHS, the Health Secretary no longer has direct responsibility for GPs’ contracts. Before losing responsibility, he made some moderate changes to the contract which aimed to increase incentives for those offering care in the community. NHS England, which now has responsibility for GPs’ contracts, is reviewing out-of-hours care and may insist on reinstating night and weekend working, or suggest other ways to ensure that patients with long-term conditions are treated in the community.
When the contract was initially renegotiated in 2004, GPs had their salaries reduced by £6,000 if they stopped providing care out of hours. However, other changes to the contract meant that average pay rose by a third, with many GPs earning six-figure salaries.
Following the changes, 90 per cent of family doctors stopped providing emergency cover, leaving patients to rely on phone services, agency doctors or hospital visits. In 2004/05, 17.7 million people used England’s A&E departments. By last year, that had risen to 21.7 million.
In opposition, the Conservatives pledged to renegotiate the contracts. However, attempts to change them have proved difficult, and the Government is scrutinising other ways of improving the out-of-hours service. The official review on the issue is expected to report at the end of the May.
Senior Government figures hope that highlighting the failures will add to the pressure for change.
Labour has accused the Government of missing waiting time targets for patients attending A&E units which it said had left emergency services “in crisis”.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, David Cameron and Ed Miliband accused one another of being responsible for the situation.
Mr Hunt will speak at a conference organised by Age UK, which will release a survey showing that 56 per cent of people believe that the Government treats older people badly.
Michelle Mitchell, the charity director-general of Age UK, said: “Our society has changed out of all recognition since the NHS was set up 65 years ago and while the founding principles of the NHS remain as important as ever, we can’t stand still. We too often see older people end up in hospital or losing their independence when services fail to connect and provide the right support at the right time. This is not only deeply distressing for the older person and their family, but means that the NHS is put under further stress.”
Maybe our future.........And the comments are great