Brent Scrutiny Task Group set up on GP services and accessibility

It is about 5 years since Scrutiny has looked at GP services in Brent and there have been many changes since then as well as current issues around accessibility during the Covid pandemic. A quick glance at locally based Facebook sites will demonstrate there are issues around accessiblity to face to face appointments, difficulties in making contact via the telephone and differences between surgeries regarding email contact and on-line consultations.

It is welcome then that a strong General Practioner and Primary Care Accessibility Group has been formed consisiting of  Cllr Mary Daly as Chair plus Cllr Abdi Aden, Cllr Tony Ethapemi,  Cllr Claudia Hector, Cllr Gaynor Lloyd and Cllr Ahmad Shahzad.

 

The scope of the Task Force will be discussed at 5pm on Monday at a meeting that is available to watch on Zoom. 

The Task 

i) To gather findings based on quantitative data and information about GP accessibility based on face-to-face appointments, physical and digital access, and qualitative information from patients’ experiences with particular reference to those who are older, have mental health needs or a disability, and who have long-term health conditions.

ii) To review the overall local offer of GP services, including the extended GP access hub service, and evaluate any variation in accessibility by practice and the underlying reasons for any variation with particular reference to clinical capacity and nursing.

iii) To evaluate the local demand to access primary care, changes in demand during the Covid 19 pandemic and changes in access to GP services during the pandemic with particular reference to digital accessibility and face-to-face appointments.

iv) To understand the role of primary care in addressing health inequalities by gathering findings on population health, deprivation and demographic trends in the borough with particular reference to Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) patients.

v) To develop a report and recommendations for local NHS organisations and the local authority’s Cabinet based on the findings and evidence gathered during the review.

It is suggested that there are five evidence sessions for this task group. The proposed structure for the meetings will be meetings with representatives from NHS organisations and GPs for evidence session 1 and evidence session 2, meetings with Healthwatch Brent and patient advocacy groups for evidence session 3, and a meeting with the voluntary sector and other relevant community organisations for evidence session 4. There will be a meeting with community organisations for evidence session 5.

Key Lines of Enquiry

To structure the evidence sessions, the scrutiny task group will focus on particular key lines of enquiry to ensure there is accountability about local primary care services.

These will include, but not be limited to, the following suggested key lines of enquiry.

1. What is the local demand for GP services and what are the particular needs of Brent residents, including vulnerable patient groups, in relation to accessing GP care?

2. Is there sufficient provision of GP services in the London Borough of Brent based on local population health needs and the growing population in the borough and is there a difference in provision or accessibility between the north and south of Brent?

3. What has been the long-term trend in how GP services are accessed and what has been happening during the Covid 19 pandemic in terms of the balance between remote appointments using digital technology and face-to-face appointments?

4. Is there a danger of exclusion from primary care services for those patients who are not able to use the digital or online options and rely on face-to-face appointments?

5. What strategy is needed to address variation and ensure that there is fair and equitable access to GP services available to Brent residents across the borough?

6. What does benchmarking data show about primary care and GP performance in Brent compared with the other clinical commissioning groups in North West London?

7. What is the role of Patient Participation Groups in addressing accessibility issues? 

 MORE DETAILS

“GPs are under pressure but help is at hand” says Royal College top doctor

Speaking at a Brent Patient Voice public meeting at the Learie Constantine Centre on last Thursday 15^th November, Dr Pauline Foreman, Medical Director at the Royal College of General Practitioners, said that GPs sometimes felt like hamsters on a wheel. Patients were unhappy at long waits for appointments. The NHS wanted GPs to send fewer people to hospitals. Visits to practices from the Care Quality Commission were quite scary, even though 90% of practices were rated good or outstanding. NHS England targets to replace retiring GPs were not being met.

However GPs should be seen as irreplaceable specialists in the whole range of medical conditions. Being a GP offered an enjoyable career with a huge variety of challenges and the chance to interact with many different patients. “If GPs could be allocated 11% instead of 8% of the NHS budget under the new NHS Ten Year Plan they could do what they were expected to do,” she said. Help for struggling practices was at hand from the Royal College and others. “Any closure of a practice is a failure, both for patients and the NHS. It costs a great deal and is very upsetting.”

Her message was echoed by long-term Brent doctor and new Chair of Brent Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Dr MC Patel. He explained that in Brent there are around 2,300 patients per GP, as compared with a London average of 1,670. “We want to make Brent a borough of choice for GPs and other health professionals” he said. The good news was that after Brent took a stall at a recent nursing event 76 people expressed an interest in working in general practice in the borough. The CCG wanted to see all local practices collaborating under the umbrella of the new Primary Care Homes initiative.

“This could involve some patients going to neighbouring practices for long-term care, e.g. for diabetes, but they would still have their own GP at their regular practice,” said Dr Patel.

Questions from the audience recalled the days of the TV programme “Dr Finlay’s Casebook” demonstrating the value of the one-to-one personal relationship between GP and patient. The speakers agreed that this was still very important for long-term patients but recognised that the younger generation often wanted to access services quickly online.

Thanking the speakers for their very informative contributions, BPV Chair Robin Sharp said:

We as BPV and through our Practice Patient Groups are  keen to help practices in these difficult times. We look forward to working with the Royal College and Brent CCG to secure the best results for patients in Brent.

For further information contact: Robin Sharp, BPV Chair on 020 8969 0381 or robisharp@googlemail.com

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