The health reforms will not lead GPs to compromise on patient care, the chair of the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) has pledged.
Speaking at the annual RCGP conference in Glasgow today (4 October 2012), Dr Clare Gerada said the NHS is now experiencing “the mother of all top down reorganisations”, after the legislation was “rushed through at breakneck speed and was qualified by a thousand amendments”, causing it to be “longer than a Tolstoy novel.”
The result, she said, was that the NHS and GPs were now in “distress”.
Despite this, Dr Gerada urged GPs to show courage in rising to the challenges the reforms present.
“We GPs are determined to make the system work for our patients. We will never compromise the founding values of our NHS and each of us must continue to play our part in raising concerns wherever we see inequalities and unfairness in our health system,” she said.
“The challenges faced by the founders of our College were every bit as great as those we face today. We’ll show courage, just as our forefathers did, as they rose to the extraordinary challenges posed by post-war austerity and the uncertainties of the new NHS.”
