GPs Are on Your Side

If you have lost your family doctor, you are not alone. General Practice is broken. Help us fix it.

You have probably noticed that something is wrong. Look at the difficulty you have in getting an appointment at your local surgery. When you do get through, it may not be an appointment with a GP at all. Have you lost your regular family doctor? You are not alone.

General Practice is collapsing. Every practice across England is struggling to keep its doors open.

We value our patients. We know that most patients value us too, especially when they need us regularly. You know we can deal with most of your health problems, keep you out of hospital, and have your best interests at heart. The problem is with the mismanagement of the NHS.

Your GP is an expert in general medical practice – trained over 10 years to deal with complex problems, spot serious symptoms, and decide when you need specialist help at the hospital.

But did you know that your practice receives just £112.50 per year for each patient, whatever their health needs. That’s less than the cost of an annual TV licence.

We believe general practice deserves a bigger slice of NHS funding so we can train and hire more GPs, deliver the services you require and make it easier for you and your loved ones to get appointments to see your GP and practice team.

GPs want the same things that you do. We believe nobody should struggle to see their family doctor.

General Practice should be as it once was – a familiar family doctor, offering continuity of care in a surgery full of friendly familiar faces within a safe building where you knew you would get the care you needed.

Steps towards better care

We have been encouraged that the Government says it wants to bring back the family doctor, and its promise to invest in the NHS. GPs at the BMA have recently agreed a new contract for GPs in England for 2025-26, that does bring essential new investment of £969m into general practice in England. However, this is only a starting point on the journey towards restoring general practice. On average around one and a half million patients have a GP appointment every weekday and providing the care patients need now and in the future will require substantial further investment, and a more substantive modern contract.

How can you support your family doctor?

Join the patient engagement group. Joining the patient engagement group (PEG) can help support the practice and influence the way we deliver local services.

Published: Jul 24, 2024