Claim figures in Evening Standard are inaccurate
Hounslow PCT have denied that the borough's health care system is suffering from a shortate of GPs. The Evening Standard had published a league table of GP vacancies in the capital which highlighted the growing problem of recruitment in the profession. The problem is so severe that last year more than 46,000 residents in the London area alone had to appeal to health bosses to force doctors to take them on.
The tables suggested the worst borough in London in terms of shortages Hounslow. In the report, the GP vacancies in this local authority were said to be 28 well above those in other boroughs however the Trust says that they supplied the wrong figures to the Standard. Many of the vacancies had already been filled.
A spokeperson for the trust said, "Hounslow PCT inherited a problem with a shortage of GPs and poor infrastructure when we were set up two years ago. Addressing these issues takes time, but we have manged to recruit 21 new GPs to Hounslow and have put in place an ambitious building programme to drive up the standards of healthcare premises. There's a long way to go yet and planning applications are often subject to delay, but there is a strong commitment from the PCT to improve things in Hounslow."
Peter Eversden of the London Forum of Amenity & Civic Societies has predicted that real problems with healthcare will emerge with the massive growth in housing that is forecast in the London Plan. Residents' groups in Brentford are warning that amenities, services, open space, school places, doctors and dentists are in short supply as the town expands and such social provision is not keeping pace with the development.
The local Primary Care Trust for Hounslow recently reported a major increase in its deficit. The Trust has a statutory duty to break even and with a projected debt of £6.4 million the deficit is unsustainable. In a report presented to trust's recent public meeting, the director of finance and performance management explained that financial support from other bodies would not be available in the future.
In a survey of the Primary Care Trusts to find vacancy rates, the average number of patients per GP, and the number of people who asked the PCT to allocate them to a doctor. Amongst the key findings were the following disturbing facts :
• London needs another 294 full-time GPs. 7% of posts are vacant. This means effectively one in 14 people is without a GP.
• Hounslow has the worst shortage with 28 doctors' posts vacant, while Kensington and Chelsea has only one vacancy.
• One doctor said the profession is so overstretched that figures were being " fiddled" to meet the Government's target of every patient being able to see a GP within 48 hours.
Dr John Chisholm, chairman of the British Medical Association's GPs committee, said "The figures paint a picture of an overworked, under-strength GP workforce. In very many London boroughs the family doctors each have more than the national average number of 1,800 patients to care for.'
Health minister John Hutton disagreed stating, "Ninety-eight per cent of people seeking a consultation in London are able to access a GP within 48 hours, whether that be through a GP practice or NHS walk-In centre. We are committed to increasing the number of GPs in London, helping to ease the pressure on practices. Last year an extra 204 GPs were recruited in London, over and above those who left the NHS."
In
response Conservative Shadow Health Minister Tim Yeo said "By spinning
GP numbers and boasting about the amounts spent on the NHS, Labour has
raised everyone's expectations. When faced with the reality of GP shortages
and closed lists, both doctors and patients feel let down."
June 14, 2004