Pulse in the Press: GP practices taking collective action
An exclusive survey by Pulse has been featured across the national press. The survey found that almost half (46%) of England’s GP practices are taking some form of collective action, with one in four putting a limit on the number of patients they see in a day.
The exclusive snapshot survey of 283 GP partners from different practices, represented 5% of the practices in England.
Results included:
- 46% of the 283 practices in England who responded to our survey said they are currently taking some form of collective action
- A further 20% said they will be taking collective action in the future, and a further 22% said they were considering it
- Only 7% ruled out taking any action
- More than a quarter of all practices said they were limiting the number of patient contacts to 25 a day – a further 44% said they were considering whether to do so
- A quarter of GPs said they believe it will affect patient harm in the short term – but most feel it will improve, or won’t affect, patient harm in the short or medium term
- Half of GPs say they would be willing to escalate the level of collective action, including breaching contracts – which could involve closing their doors
The BMA’s GP Committee England launched collective action at the start of this month, with practices given the choice of which out of 10 potential forms of collective actions they would like to take. All the actions outlined by the BMA are non-contractual, and a number of practices said they had already implemented them before the collective action was announced.
The story has appeared across several different titles including the Mail, the Telegraph, the BBC, the i newspaper, and the Guardian.
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