WE ARE CALLING ON ANY NHS STAFF MEMBER TO READ THIS & CONSIDER SIGNING BELOW
WE PLAN TO GATHER SIGNATURES THEN USE THIS TO LOBBY FOR CHANGE

Dear Secretary of State for Health & Social Care,

The advent of GP at Hand [1], the online NHS GP service, powered by Babylon [2], the private digital health provider service, has brought the problems of the ill-conceived government GP Choice Scheme [3] into sharp focus.
Since GP at Hand launched in November 2017 around 26000 patients have registered with GP at Hand, most of these being between the ages of 20 and 39.

When patients register with ‘GP at Hand’ they are ‘de-registered’ from their own surgery and funding is then removed from that surgery. Practices have seen their list sizes fall for the first time in years due to those patients registering with GP at Hand. There is no doubt that ‘GP at Hand’ will destabilise other practices [4], robbing them of the vital risk pooling and cross subsidy which enables them to provide good care to their more complex and unwell patients. Losing registration fees for younger, fitter patients who join ‘GP at Hand’ threatens the model of general practice relied on by so many patients. The scheme is hoovering up the younger, healthier patient and restricts access to those who are pregnant, frail, terminally ill or suffering from multiple health problems. Continuity of care is threatened because you may never see the same GP again when consulting GP at Hand.

In practice, 70% of all patients are reasonably well. Their funding helps surgeries care for the 30% who are sick. It’s a system that works, because it’s fair. We all eventually end up in the 30%.

The service targets the most profitable patients – those who are younger and healthier and don’t need extensive care from their GP. It is unclear if patients are fully advised of the implications of registering with ‘GP at Hand’ and how it can destabilise their previous practice by removing much needed funding.

Jeremy Hunt has said that general practice is the ‘jewel in the crown’ of the NHS. If he truly believes this, he will acknowledge that the ‘GP at Hand’ model threatens the very survival of NHS general practice as we know it and we call on him to abolish it. ‘GP at Hand’ have made it clear they wish to roll out their model of care across the country so this scheme will threaten general practice across England (Wales, Scotland and NI do not have this scheme in place).

Doctors in Unite demand that this aspect of the ‘GP Choice Scheme’ is abolished to ensure the survival of list-based NHS general practice within a defined geographical area. General practice is the cornerstone of the NHS which has provided excellent care with its other community partners for decades.

April 2018

Doctors in Unite [5] is part of Unite the Union, the largest union in the UK with 1.5 million members. We are committed to an NHS which is publicly funded, publicly provided and publicly accountable.
If you are a doctor then join us in Doctors in Unite HERE - http://www.unitetheunion.org/growing-our-union/joinunite/ 


Chair – Dr David Wrigley @davidgwrigley      
Deputy chairs – Dr Jackie Applebee-Turner @jackieapplebeet & Dr Coral Jones @coralcejones_c

[1] https://www.gpathand.nhs.uk/
[2] https://www.babylonhealth.com
[3] http://www.nhsemployers.org/news/2015/01/gp-choice-scheme
[4] https://www.theguardian.com/healthcare-network/views-from-the-nhs-frontline/2017/nov/16/seeing-gp-smartphone-sounds-wonderful-its-not
[5] http://www.unitetheunion.org/how-we-help/list-of-sectors/healthsector/healthsectoryourprofession/mpumedicalpractitionersunion/