BMA Scotland GP Leader Calls On Scottish Government To Listen, Support And Work With GPs To Help Improve Patient Care

Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice
Article Date: 12 Jun 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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As GPs across the UK gathered in London for the Annual Conference of Local Medical Committees, Dr Dean Marshall, chairman of the BMA's Scottish General Practitioners Committee, slammed the government for trying to strip GPs of funding and called for the profession to make decisions about general practice, not civil servants.

Dr Marshall said: "What the Government gives with one hand, it takes away with another. We cannot stand idly by as they try to strip general practice of funding in an effort to claw back the investment in the early days of the new contract.

"The Government should instead continue to invest in general practice. We are delivering on health inequalities and we are delivering on public health. We can deliver more and better care to our patients if politicians would listen to us, support us and work with us."

With regard to the future of general practice, Dr Marshall concluded: "For to long, policy has been developed in isolation by civil servants, when it should be developed by the profession. We can play a pivotal role in developing policies that are practical and deliverable and that really will make a difference to out patients. It is important that GPs are leaders in the debate on the future of general practices rather than waiting on the sidelines."

Source
BMA Scotland

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