Kent GPs under 'tremendous pressure' call for action

Doctors are under "tremendous pressure" and patients are not getting the care they deserve, according to a body which represents GPs in Kent.

The Kent Local Medical Committee (Kent LMC) said the government needed to take action to increase capacity after "chronic underfunding" for a decade.

One GP told the BBC the demand was "difficult to cope with", while another said patients were at "increased risk".

Health minister Will Quince said "growing the workforce" was a priority.

In an appeal to the Department of Health and NHS England, Kent LMC said the pressure on General Practice in the county was "not solely attributable to flu and Covid infection but a consequence of chronic underfunding over the last decade accelerated by the pandemic".

There needed to be immediate steps, it said, to "increase capacity in General Practice, reduce unnecessary workload and commit to a long-term" plan to boost staff numbers.

GP and chair of the Kent LMC, Gaurav Gupta, told BBC South East this winter had been the worst in his 15-year career.

"For the last 10 years or so we have been under-resourced and now we have been hit with Covid, flu and strep A all at the same time in the middle of winter, so it's almost the perfect storm," he said.

Dr Shailesh Sinha, a senior GP at Swanscombe Health Centre in Kent, said: "If you look at the whole scenario right now, the waiting time to get an ambulance, to take someone seriously ill to the hospital, the wait at the A&E, not being able to see the GP - people are at increased risk."

Dr Suhayb Jugon, a GP registrar at the same practice, said: "It's difficult to cope with. We have to turn people away every day because we don't have any appointments left."

Mr Quince said: "Growing the workforce is one of my immediate priorities and we are making significant progress in training and recruiting a record number of staff - with over 42,000 more people working in the NHS compared to a year ago.

"We will publish a workforce plan this year to recruit and retain more staff and make the NHS the best place to work."

NHS England said: "GPs across Kent and Medway continue to work hard to see patients as quickly as possible and are committed to offering patients a positive experience."

It said there were a number of initiatives taking place to reduce the pressure, including recruiting extra roles to support the GP workforce.

It said it was also implementing a GP development plan focusing on key themes for improvement and had invested £3.5m of its winter access fund to improve phone systems and capacity.

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