More doctors, better care, faster access

A report produced today by Primary Care National Director, Dr David Colin-Thome, shows that NHS primary care, the local healthcare people access most frequently, is continuing to expand and provide a wider range of services to patients.

The first progress report on primary care details a period of significant achievement for NHS primary care staff.

Key improvements outlined in the report include:

• Extra investment in primary care services has increased the amount of specialist services available in   family practices.  Last year more than 700,000 procedures were carried out in local practices that were, until  recently, only available in hospital. This is an increase of 100,000 on the previous year.
• More than 99% of practices have now signed up to the new national contract for general practice. The new  contract will see significant improvements in patient care, and will secure important improvements in the   working lives of GPs.
• 97% of patients now see a GP within two working days – an increase from 75% in March 2002.
• The confident expectation that the NHS has met its target of recruiting 2000 more GPs into the health service  by April 2004, as set out in the NHS Plan.
• Nearly 2,000 surgeries have been improved or replaced, and 268 one-stop primary care centres established  – from a total investment in premises of up to £1 billion to 2005.
• More than 25,000 community nurses are now trained to prescribe medicines from an agreed list of   medications. Some 1,900 nurses are qualified to prescribe independently.

Dr David Colin-Thome said:

“Primary Care encompasses all of the local healthcare services that we access most frequently. With ninety per cent of NHS contacts taking place in a primary care setting it’s important to all of us that the extra investment that is going into these services is delivering the right results.

“Over the last four years, primary care services have continued to expand and improve, with more doctors and more nurses providing a greater range of services than ever before. Services that were once only available in hospital are increasingly provided in family practices.

“With almost every GMS general practice in England now signed-up to the new GP contract, investment in primary care will increase by a third over the next three years. The new contract will help realise our vision of a responsive, high-quality primary care service that meets patients’ health care needs, close to their home, whatever their circumstances and whatever the time of day or night.”

Health Secretary John Reid said:

“All of the staff that work in primary care should be congratulated for helping to deliver the improvements in services we have seen over the last four years. It has been a period of tremendous change for primary care. But as this report highlights, the extra investment and organisational reforms are bringing about real improvements in the quality of care and access to services.

“The report is published as new figures show that almost 100 per cent of GMS general practices in England have now signed their new contracts. The contracts herald a new era in primary care, bringing patients access to a wider range of services and giving doctors greater flexibility in their working lives.

“The next few years will see an increased focus on delivering more primary care services. This will be backed by a 33% increase in funding for primary care.

“The NHS is on track to hit its target to recruit 2000 more GP’s by April 2004. But we are not complacent, we will continue to work hard to recruit even more.”

Professor David Haslam, Chairman of Council, Royal College of General Practitioners, said:

“I am delighted to see that the tremendous strengths of primary care are, at last, being recognised and supported.

“For patients, as the report quite rightly says, primary care will continue to be the familiar face of the NHS where people are known as individuals. It is obviously vital that the hugely welcome increase in primary care health funding by another £1.8 billion does not just increase efficiency at the price of humanity, or rapid access at the price of personal caring.

“Working together, and with the new welcome focus on chronic disease and mental health, I believe that GPs, primary care, and the whole NHS can make a huge contribution to the health of our nation.”

Dr John Chisholm, Chairman of the General Practitioners Committee of the BMA, said:

“We know that a strong primary care system is highly cost-effective and produces better outcomes and higher patient satisfaction.  We are now seeing the largest ever sustained investment in primary care.  This progress report pays tribute to what is already being achieved in primary care and general practice, through the hard work and commitment of GPs and primary care teams.  It is also a herald of what is to come, particularly as a result of a new GP contract that is better for patients, better for general practitioners and full of opportunities.  In particular, the Quality and Outcomes Framework will reward those practices delivering high quality care and is likely over time to lead to improvements in health outcomes and reductions in premature deaths.”