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A minister has accused British Medical Association (BMA) leaders of being “determined to turn their organisation into a farce” after a motion was passed for GPs to refuse to comply with new online access requirements for surgeries.
While Stephen Kinnock claimed the government wants “to work constructively with the BMA”, he said the motion “will put patient safety at risk at a critical time ahead of winter.”
From October 1, GP surgeries in England have been required to keep their online consultation platform open for the duration of their working hours for non-urgent appointment requests, medication queries and admin requests.
But a motion was passed that demanded the requirements’ removal and insisted online consultations should be curtailed once safe working limits have been reached, during Friday’s England LMC (local medical committee) conference.
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The motion condemned the changes as “a cynical political stunt that is unfunded, unsafe and knowingly undeliverable in the context of current workforce collapse”.
It also called on GPCE, the British Medical Association’s (BMA) GP committee for England, to “prepare options for action”, including not complying with the mandates, if the government refuses to revise them.
But hitting back at the union – which has had an increasingly fractious relationship with Labour in recent months – health minister Stephen Kinnock said: “The current leadership of the BMA, whether on the GP committee or resident doctors’ committee, seem determined to turn their organisation into a farce.
“We’ve always been clear that we want to work constructively with the BMA – but they stand resolutely in the way of changes vital for patient care, and for the progress their members want to see too.
“This latest escalation is founded on untruths and will put patient safety at risk at a critical time ahead of winter.”
Mr Kinnock added: “It’s ludicrous to say the government has betrayed general practice – we have placed GPs at the heart of our 10 year health plan, provided a funding boost of £1.1bn, recruited 2,500 more GPs and cut red tape – as well as launched a review into the distribution of GP funding.”
It comes amid a growing spat between Labour and the BMA as a result of an ongoing pay dispute, with the union claiming resident doctors’ wages are 20 per cent lower in real terms than in 2008 and many struggle to find jobs.
Wes Streeting, who offered resident doctors a fresh package of support last week, has refused to budge on headline pay, describing the BMA’s pay demands as “preposterous”.
The union rejected the offer saying it did not go far enough and the government needed to increase pay.
The recently passed motion said the mandates, which apply to the core hours of 8am to 6.30pm, “reduce care to box-ticking targets and put patients at risk”.
It insisted that practices must remain flexible in order to provide access that suits the needs of their patients.
The changes have led to people submitting requests about life-threatening conditions on non-urgent forms, family doctors said previously.
They told Pulse magazine that patients have reported difficulty breathing, rectal bleeding and severe vomiting on the forms, which are designed for non-emergencies.
Last week a poll of 431 GPs and practice managers by the same outlet found 67 per cent are concerned about patient safety since the mandates.
This comes after the BMA entered a dispute with the government over changes to online access.
The union argues that certain safeguards have not been put in place to support the change and no additional staff have been hired to manage the requests.
It claims this could risk patient safety as staff try to find the most urgent cases, with fears that reviewing online requests will take up too much time.
Meanwhile, the BMA council chairman said there is “a gulf” between clinicians and government.
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Dr Tom Dolphin said in a statement: “As representatives for doctors across the UK, we care deeply about our patients – but doctors’ ability to provide the quality of care patients deserve relies on support from and collaboration with the government and NHS leaders.
“This collaboration must be built on trust and done through real, frank and direct engagement.
“What is clear, however, is that with four major groups of doctors in dispute with the government in England, there is a gulf between the experiences of the expert clinicians providing care day-in, day-out to patients in GP practices and hospitals across the country, and those making the decisions in Whitehall.”
He added: “Our GP committee repeatedly warned the Government that making promises to the public it could not keep about online access would push some practices to the brink, reduce available appointments and risk urgent queries being missed.
“Having been at the LMC conference of grassroots GPs on Friday, the frustration of my colleagues working at the coalface of general practice could not have been clearer.
“We want to work with the government to resolve all these disputes for the benefit of all.”
