So we have the Conservatives’ Andrew Lansley as health secretary, and we a have year-on-year increase in NHS funding, in real terms, despite initial rumours to the contrary.
We also have a declaration of war against GPs, if the Daily Mail is to be believed: ‘Family doctors will be forced to take back responsibility for out-of-hours care following a string of tragic blunders under Labour,‘ screams today’s front page.
Another day, another ill-informed public comment from the Confederation of British Industry bashing general practice.
I know that
business is important but it’s the overwhelming self-importance that really rankles, especially when they seem to have no
idea what they are talking about on primary care services.
The news that the Press Complaints Commission is investigating the Daily Mail’s coverage of GP pay should be welcomed.
I can’t believe it referred once again to the ‘The GP who earns £380,000′ headline in its edition Wednesday when covering dentist pay.
You may have read today’s Daily Mail splash headlined ‘The GP earning £380,000 a year’.
The Freedom of Information Act investigation of GP pay in 22 PCTs explains: ‘The highest-paid of all was a GP in North-East Essex PCT, who earned £380,394. The trust, covering 40 surgeries in the Colchester area, would not name the doctor or say whether the figure included outgoings.’
Today, the Daily Mail launched its Christmas appeal to raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Society using figures exclusively obtained by GP as the basis for the campaign.
These figures, which we first published in October, showed that one in four PCTs had closed or reduced dementia services in the past three years and less than half have early detection services in place. This is despite the fact that 98 per cent claimed that dementia care was one of their main priorities. The findings were revealed after GP obtained data from 57 PCTs across England under the Freedom of Information Act.
These statistics are shocking and astonishing, particularly given the grim predictions about the number of people who will develop dementia in the coming years.
Dementia is a terrible condition that slowly robs people of themselves and is agonising for family members. GPs, faced with patients and carers who are struggling to cope, have little option in terms of where to refer them because, as our figures show, the services are simply not there. It is difficult, and in some cases impossible, for them to get their patients the help that they need.
It is not good enough for PCTs to claim that their older peoples services or mental health services can provide such specialist care. As the Alzheimer’s Society points out, dementia sufferers have very specific needs that require regular support.
But its not just specialist services that PCTs are cutting back. Over the past few years, GP’s sister title Independent Nurse has regularly reported on cuts to district and community nursing teams. These are often the very staff that can help patients with dementia remain at home with their families for longer and provide much needed support to carers.
In October, when GP first ran the story on dementia service cutbacks, we also reported that the DoH was planning to release the first national dementia strategy in November. This has not materialised and, as yet, there is no sign of when it will be unveiled.
With rates of dementia likely to increase dramatically over the next decade it is vital that we start planning for the future and ensure the NHS can meet both current and future need – at present it is clearly unable to do either. The DoH’s new strategy, backed by adequate funding and guidance and support for frontline staff and PCTs, would be a good place to start – let’s hope that the department manages to publish it some time soon.
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