'GP work-to-rule action risks my daughter's life'

The father of a woman who has life-limiting health conditions fears GP industrial action could put her life at risk.

Rachel Krysiak, from Downend near Bristol, suffers from a complex range of health conditions and relies on her parents for 24-hour care.

Her father, Bob Krysiak, said work-to-rule action, which has seen some GPs limiting the number of patients they see and stop working when they are not contracted to, could disrupt her specialist care.

The British Medical Association (BMA) announced the action in August over a dispute with the government about what it says is a lack of funding. The government says an extra £311m has been put into GP practices.

Ms Krysiak, 52, is under the care of several hospital specialists, working with GPs in the community, for neurological and renal conditions.

Mr Krysiak said he received a letter from the Downend Health Group warning the GP surgery would not take over prescribing medications that were started by specialists in hospital.

He told the BBC he was "shocked", adding his biggest worry is that her life could be at risk.

"Hospital specialists are continuously monitoring Rachel's health and keeping her alive frankly, because she would have actually died on several occasions in the past," he said.

"That means changing her medications... and updating them for the GP practices, for the community, to take over managing those medications.

"According to the letter from the practice... if Rachel is discharged with a medication that has been started in hospital... that won't be followed up in the community, which is crazy. It's unsafe."

Downend Health Group has been approached by the BBC for comment.

The BMA said it cannot rule out patients coming to harm as a result of the work-to rule action but claims it is trying to prevent a bigger harm.

"I don't have a crystal ball. What will put patients at risk is the reality of the lack of funding," Dr Lucy-Jane Davis, chair of British Medical Association South West, said.

"We have talked about the closure of surgeries across Bristol and into Chard, and we are looking at the fact that some surgeries are going to have to hand their contract back and there will be no GPs left. That's the really big risk."

GP practices taking industrial action have been advising patients to seek help from their pharmacy. But the National Pharmacy Association has recently also voted on similar action which means they will no longer do free deliveries.

Ade Williams, pharmacist in Bedminster Pharmacy, said: "The truth is we're in a situation where the community pharmacy network is already fracturing. This action is to make sure we don't see a massive collapse of that."

NHS England has warned that work-to-rule will not only disrupt GP services, but also affect A&E waiting times and delay referrals for treatments such as knee and hip operations.

The Avon Local Medical Committee, which represents family doctors, said: "The reason for action is because GPs have had three consecutive contract impositions and they are unable to deliver safe patient care within the current funding envelope.

"The impact of the recent budget has exacerbated these funding challenges."

It added that action has been coordinated across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire practices for "maximum impact".

A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said the government is committed to recruiting more than 1,000 newly qualified GPs and it has already put an additional £311m into GP practices.

She said: "The NHS is broken, and the Secretary of State has been clear he wants to work with doctors to get it back on its feet so it works for patients and staff.

"We have taken tough decisions to fix the foundations so a £26bn boost for the NHS and social care could be announced at the budget."

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