To rescue struggling GPs Chaand Nagpaul, British Medical Association (BMA) GP Committee chair, calls for NHS England to introduce an urgent national practice stabilisation fund.
Chaand has called for an urgent meeting with NHS England, led by chief executive Simon Stevens, to discuss action to support practices struggling with rising workloads, lack of resources, and recruitment difficulties.
In a letter to Ros Roughton, NHS England director of NHS commissioning, Nagpaul said, “We believe that a significant number of practices are outwardly coping but have fragile foundations which could easily collapse if the practice experiences any additional pressure — for example through staff sickness or retirement.”
The BMA suggests this fund is be deployed via area teams or clinical commissioning groups, and that vulnerable practices could also receive management or clinical support from a local ‘healthcare resilience task force’.
NHS England was also urged to grant practices the right to declare ‘major incidents’ in a similar way that accident and emergency departments can.
NHS England has been contacted for comment.
