Value Blog

So the prime minister has responded to GP and Healthcare Republic's Valuing General Practice campaign but what do you think of what he said?

Are you happy with his 153-word statement or do you wish he had gone further?

When GP and Healthcare Republic launched the Valuing General Practice campaign on 2 May, we felt that it was important to make two points: general practice is cost effective and much valued by the communities it serves.

Six months on and the Brown government is planning to spend its way out of the credit crunch but how much of a comfort is that for the practices which have a polyclinic built on their doorsteps, threatening to poach their patients?

There are signs that the government is finding its feet after the disastrous 12 months following the election that never was.

Only yesterday a poll in The Independent had the Conservative lead over Labour at 8 points, down from 19 two months ago. GP's sense is that is not the position in general practice. Brown's approval rating is 3% according to the GP35 panel of 35 GPs aged under 35 that we launch today.

So GP and Healthcare Republic's message to Gordon Brown is clear: now is the time to win over GPs.

Comment below if you would like to have your say about the prime minister's Valuing General Practice statement.

neil.durham@haymarket.com

Life's not always a box of chocolates for GPs but at least you can console yourselves that you're not Gordon Brown.

The Labour conference begins in Manchester tomorrow and the spotlight is about to well and truly shine upon our embattled prime minister.

28 percentage points behind the Tories in the latest Ipsos Mori poll, is the Brown government a train wreck waiting to happen? 

Or is his stock, in fact, rising? Is he just the economic expert the UK sorely needs to lead it out of these credit crunch-obsessed times into a brighter tomorrow?

GP reporter Jonn Elledge will be mingling with the Labour faithful in Manchester, so tune in to Healthcare Republic for his live coverage from the conference starting Monday.

Today the BMA launches phase two of its Support Your Surgery campaign, urging patients to contact local decision-makers to oppose the imposition of GP-led health centres or polyclinics in their area.

This week GP published the results of its Valuing General Practice campaign survey.

It found that one in seven practices faces closure or relocation to a polyclinic thanks to government reform and received coverage in the Daily Express and Daily Telegraph.

When we devised the campaign we thought long and hard about whether we should personalise it.

The reason why we chose to ask whether Mr Brown should make a statement valuing general practice was because he appeared to be the hushed voice behind the media bullying of practices to extend their hours. And we all know, thanks to GP columnist Mary Selby this week, what a farce this is becoming.

Ironically, that clock may now be ticking down on his leadership, particularly if David Miliband summons up the courage to take on the boss.

Although one can't help but think that now - with the credit crunch biting and Labour so far behind the Tories - it can't be the most attractive time to try to take down Gordon. 

Whether it is time for a new Labour leader or not, the Valuing General Practice survey also found that 82 per cent of GPs think that Mr Brown should make a statement valuing general practice.

Well, Mr Brown, we have very publicly asked you to do so today.

Now the clock is also ticking on how long you take to respond ...

neil.durham@haymarket.com

It took until day 112 of GP's campaign but yesterday the Conservatives finally gave it their backing and entered the Valuing General Practice house.

GP had an exclusive 40-minute chat with shadow health secretary for the Conservatives Andrew Lansley at Portcullis House, Westminster and you can read the full piece in our 5 September edition.

England's potential next health secretary covered such topics as the differences between Conservative and Labour on general practice issues, the role of the private sector in the NHS under the Tories, where the Conservatives and BMA disagree on health policy and the importance of general practice under a David Cameron-led administration.

It really was enlightening stuff and, if the polls are to be believed, it's a fascinating, crystal ball-look into the future and what waits in store for GPs post a 2010 election. Or not. You decide.

Bafflingly, security in Portcullis House banned our photographer from taking any more pictures of Mr Lansley mid-shoot, so forgive us if the accompanying pictures are not as magnificent as usual.

Our snapper did, however, put his unexpected spare time to good use and managed to spot (although, sadly not on camera!) a rather sunburnt-looking shadow foreign secretary William Hague ambling about Portcullis House. It was like an episode of The Politics Show in there. Oblivious to the GP interviewing team, broadcaster, writer, campaigner and former MP Oona King had pitched up at a neighbouring table. 

Back to reality and the Valuing General Practice survey and petition closed on Tuesday. Thank you to the 3,000-plus patients and almost 300 GPs who have backed it so far.

We're currently collating the evidence about the value of general practice generated by the campaign and will publish the results in an early September edition of GP.

One of the campaign survey questions was whether prime minister Gordon Brown should make a statement valuing general practice. What do you think? Perhaps we should put a call in to Number 10 and lay down the challenge?

neil.durham@haymarket.com 

103 days ago prime minister Gordon Brown was recovering from Labour's worst election results for 40 years and London was welcoming new mayor Boris Johnson.

GP also launched its Valuing General Practice campaign.

All good things must come to an end and on Tuesday we begin the mammoth task of collating the material GPs and patients have contributed to the campaign.

So far more than 260 GPs have taken part in the survey, enabling themselves to be entered into a draw for £100 worth of Amazon vouchers. You have six days to participate if you would like to.

Practices with petitions should return them by Tuesday to the Valuing General Practice campaign, GP, 174 Hammersmith Road, Hammersmith, W6 7JP. So far more than 2,000 patients have backed the campaign, explaining in detail why they value general practice.

Bodies including the Liberal Democrats, BMA, RCGP, NHS Alliance, National Association of Primary Care, Family Doctor Association, Dispensing Doctors Association, 2020health.org and Medical Women's Federation have thrown their weight behind the campaign.

But what should we do with the evidence? How should we conclude the Valuing General Practice campaign?

neil.durham@haymarket.com

The Liberal Democrats this week backed GP's Valuing General Practice campaign.

Speaking exclusively to GP, the Lib Dem shadow health secretary Norman Lamb said: ‘I'm absolutely clear that I'm wholly opposed to imposing these (polyclinics or GP-led health centres) from the centre.

‘It seems to me to be utterly ludicrous and yet more evidence of this central diktat.'

Read the full interview with Mr Lamb in this week's issue of GP dated 11 July.

GP's campaign is about so much more than polyclinics. So far 1,850-plus patients and GPs have signed the petition.

There's still time to download petitions and collect signatures from patients as we won't be compiling the final tally until 19 August. GP is keen to measure the value of general practice and pass on that message to government. Take part in the survey and be entered into a draw for £100 worth of Amazon vouchers.

So far 145 of you have filled out the survey but there's plenty of time to go as it closes on 19 August.

The campaign has so far won the backing of the RCGP, BMA, NHS Alliance, National Association of Primary Care, the Medical Women's Federation, Londonwide LMCs, Family Doctor Association, Dispensing Doctors Association and think tank http://www.2020health.org but had struggled to receive political backing until my colleagues Emma Bower (editor of GP and Independent Nurse) and Nick Bostock (news editor of GP and Independent Nurse) visited the Lib Dems.

Getting political parties aboard a campaign can be a frustrating business. I'd been advised by the Lib Dems that Valuing General Practice didn't ‘chime' with the party's policies and even that the Conservative Party might be a better bet. The Tories are still resisting - but that's another story.

Perhaps this week's unexpected Lib Dem enthusiasm might spur them into action.

neil.durham@haymarket.com

Thank you to the practices who have returned petitions. We have 1,600-plus signatures so far.

There's still time to download a petition as we won't be collating them until 19 August, so you have just under 60 days to go. If your patients value general practice, please take part.

A special thank you to the BMA who forwarded some petitions which were sent in error to it.

There's also still time to enter the Valuing General Practice Survey to be entered in a draw for £100 worth of Amazon vouchers. This closes on 19 August too and so far we have had 65 participants.

It's been a busy week for the campaign. GPC chairman Dr Laurence Buckman mentioned the need for the government to value general practice in his speech to the LMCs conference in London on 12 June.

The following day GPC Scotland chairman Dr Dean Marshall made a similar call.

We don't believe prime minister Gordon Brown has yet responded but please do tell us if he calls you at 6am and mentions it. 

Apologies that GP hasn't quite managed to tell the moving tale of one patient who values his GP in its pages yet. With so much going on, we've been short of space but it should be with you soon.

Check out GP's 27 June edition for a well-argued article by NHS Alliance chairman Dr Michael Dixon explaining why it has thrown its weight behind our campaign.

How do you measure the value of general practice?

It's a question we've thought long and hard over.

So, today we launch the Valuing General Practice survey.

Funding cuts, extended hours, polyclinics and other government plans threaten practice viability. GP is keen to measure the value of general practice and pass on that message to government.

Complete our survey to be entered for a draw to win £100 worth of Amazon vouchers.

GP received a letter this week from Leslie James Wright.

His wife died after suffering from cancer and he was keen to express his gratitude to her GP Dr David Pouncey who works at the Bell Lane surgery in Minchinhampton, Gloucester. Read next week's GP for the full story but it's a good example of why patients value general practice.

This week's GP has a range of Valuing General Practice campaign articles.

Look out for the King's Fund report revealing that there is no evidence to support polyclinics, news that next week's LMCs conference will debate whether the government banks on world-class general practice 'on the cheap' and a feature about a GP-led collaborative which claims to have achieved Lord Darzi's goal of integrated care without the expense of building polyclinics.

Thanks to those practices who have returned their campaign petitions. I should reiterate that there is no deadline date on them because, unlike other campaigns, we're not putting our feet up for the summer. Valuing General Practice is with you until the foreseeable future.
 
As well as Leslie James Wright's moving endorsement of his GP, GP will also include a feature about how to campaign successfully against polyclinics and a piece from the National Association of Primary Care about why it is backing the campaign.

Thinking up campaigns is a funny business.

You spend months racking your brains for something that needs championing and then, as soon as you have settled on the big idea, everyone's talking about it.

Or so it seemed at a discussion at think tank Civitas last night entitled 'Polyclinics: an integrating or disentegrating force?'. While, no-one mentioned GP's Valuing General Practice campaign by name, the importance of both value for money and services valued by patients were recurring themes.

There was much agreement that forcing polyclinics on communities was wrong but that investment was welcome and change needed. 

RCGP chairman Professor Steve Field told the delegates he had met prime minister Gordon Brown twice in the last 10 days, at least once over breakfast.

And it was the sort of arresting image that those asking questions from the audience just could not shift from their minds. 'Well, if I were meeting Gordon Brown for breakfast, I'd tell him ...'

Summing up was best done by Healthcare Commission chairman Sir Ian Kennedy. He said: 'I'd tell Brown over breakfast that if you care about localism, commissioning and value for money you can do it all by organising care locally, listening to what people value in the community and commissioning that. You also need to have the good sense to first work with professionals and patients to produce integrated care. The polyclinic is not as important as that ultimate goal.'

GP's Valuing General Practice campaign has got off to a tremendous start but there's much yet to accomplish.

This week's GP is full of campaign articles including a splash revealing global sums may benefit from a cut to QOF, a piece by the Medical Women's Federation arguing that practices should be incentivised to have partners, an editorial encouraging a radical rethink of the quality framework and a feature about the value of GPSIs in practices.

We're currently working on this week's issue but can reveal that the campaign has this week won the backing of the BMA and Londonwide LMCs.

Professor Steve Field, RCGP chairman, has written a piece explaining why the RCGP backs Valuing General Practice.

In it he says: 'If change in our healthcare system is to be successful, it must be clinician-led. Strong GP leadership is needed at all levels, but most importantly at local level to drive local change.'

Do you think change will be both local and clinician-led?

This week's GP is full of items building on our Valuing General Practice campaign.

We compare NHS screening tests with those offered by private companies in Medeconomics, carry a letter arguing that the government is waging war on small practices, an editorial warning of an imminent attack on MPIGs and a news story about talks to save threatened rural practices.

We're currently putting together next week's GP but look out for a piece by Dr Clarissa Fabre, president elect of the Medical Women's Federation and an East Sussex GP, explaining why her group is backing the campaign.

She writes: 'The government sees polyclinics as the way forward because it thinks (mistakenly) that women will not mind being salaried, and will tolerate being controlled by large private companies.

'Nothing could be further from the truth.

'Women doctors, just like men, want the commitment of a partnership.

'It is essential that incentives are introduced, so that practices take on partners, rather than salaried doctors or nurses,' she adds.

There is more to the campaign than polyclinics but it is an important issue.

What do you think?

Is the government banking on women GPs to work in polyclinics? Is it about to be disappointed?

To join in the campaign, go to www.healthcarerepublic.com/value.

To read Dr Fabre's full piece, look out for next week's GP. (dated 16 May)

The NHS won't be able to cope with future demand unless it focuses relentlessly on value for money, according to think tank Reform.

Its report 'Demand for a new era: the future of health' argues that rising life expectancy, higher living standards and expensive new treatments will combine to massively increase patient demands.

The NHS will be 'overwhelmed' by demand unless it provides better value for money, Reform argues.

What do you think?

This is what GP columnist Chris Lancelot thinks about polyclinics - they're wrecking general practice before they've even started. Is this what's happening in your area?

'A vicious planning blight has descended upon primary care. The damage potential of the Darzi clinics is so great that it has rendered nearby GP practices almost incapable of action.

'Those situated near the planned polyclinics have been talking openly of losing half their patients. What practice will take on new staff, extend its premises, engage a new partner or replace a retiring one under these circumstances?'

Read his full searing commentary in next week's GP.

There are many important facts about primary care in the UK today.

Here's one from the BMA: 'More than 9,500 heart-related problems, including heart attacks and strokes, will be prevented over the next five years largely because of the quality framework.'

Here's another from the RCGP that we used to launch our campaign: 'General practice care for a whole year costs less than a single day's hospital admission.'

General practice is a success story that is both valued by patients and cost-effective.

We at GP and Healthcare Republic think that's an important message to put to government particularly at a time when the health of the economy is dominating thinking and value-for-money is increasingly sought.

So, welcome to the Valuing General Practice Value Blog. It's aim is to update you on how the campaign is going.

Go to www.healthcarerepublic.com/value to download the first in our series of posters to display in your surgery, or to download petitions for patients to sign to show how much they value general practice, or to leave your thoughts on our online petition message board or to take part in the debate in the forum.

The GPC describes the threat facing general practice as the worst for 40 years. We want to help to put the facts at your fingertips to begin the fight back.

Together there is a chance to turn the tide.