'Patients need doctors they know and trust' - GP

A GP has welcomed the government's recruitment of 1,500 doctors, but said patients wanted to see an end to the revolving door of practitioners and be treated by "someone they know and trust".

Dr Mark Hainsworth, of Bildeston Health Centre in Suffolk, said doctors' relationships with patients was "paramount" but many were not directly employed by surgeries, leading to people seeing different GPs each visit.

The government revealed the number of GPs hired as it aims to end the 08:00 scramble for appointments.

However, the British Medical Association (BMA) said not all the roles were full-time and there were already too many GPs looking for work, because practices could not afford to hire them.

Reflecting on the government's announcement, Dr Hainsworth said: "We are short of GPs, but patients do not want to see someone who is just there for half a day – they want to see someone they know and trust.

"That's paramount and patients prefer it. It's cheaper for the nation and it has been shown to be the most effective way to provide healthcare across various conditions."

According to the government, its recruitment scheme had cut waiting lists by 193,000 and would "increase appointments to bring back the family doctor" - something Dr Hainsworth said was essential.

He said currently it was often the case that primary care networks were responsible for selecting staff, as opposed to GP surgeries, due to the diversion of funds.

He feared this resulted in a lack of continuity as, on some occasions, health professionals would only work at a specific surgery on a part-time basis.

"We need to start getting back to one-to-one relationships. New GPs need to be there for most of the week, so they can provide that personal tailored care," said Dr Hainsworth.

"Unfortunately, medical textbooks teach us that people only have one thing wrong with them but, ultimately, patients often have more than one problem.

"I spend most of my days with someone phoning up about a toe, but then we spend most of the consultation talking about their heart."

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the new recruitment project would "get the NHS back on its feet" and "make it fit for the future".

"Rebuilding our broken NHS starts with fixing the front door," he said.

"The extra investment and reforms we have made will allow patients to book appointments more easily and end the 8am scramble."

But the BMA said it feared many GPs would leave the profession due to being unable to secure jobs.

In a recent survey of more than 1,400 family doctors, one in five GPs in England told the BMA they planned to change their career because they could not find enough work.

BMA bosses said rising running costs and decades of underfunding in general practice made it harder for practices to hire staff.

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