The government will not be able to end the “8am scramble” for GP appointments without a significant increase in funding, doctors have warned.
During the election campaign, Labour promised to “end the 8am scramble by allowing patients to easily book appointments to see the doctor they want, in the manner they choose”.
But the Doctors’ Association UK has said the manifesto pledge will not be possible under current funding.
The organisation’s GP lead Dr Lizzie Toberty said at least £35 extra will need to be spent on each patient every year to match funding levels from a decade ago.
“We receive [the same] payment per patient, per year, no matter how complex, no matter what they need doing, no matter how many appointments they have,” she told the i newspaper.
“[The] payment has not been uplifted in line with inflation or patient need, so over the years primary care has had to do more and more with less and less, which can be seen in the difficulties people have in getting to see their GP.”
Recent NHS figures suggest the health service paid an average of £164.64 for each patient in 2022-23.
The funding warning comes after GPs in England voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action for the first time since 1964. More than 98% of the 8,500 doctors that took part in the ballot voted for the industrial action.
Since entering Downing Street last month, the Labour government has offered junior doctors a 22.3% pay rise over two years.
Medics had been campaigning for a 35% increase over claims of years of real terms pay cuts.
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The British Medical Association (BMA) has not yet accepted Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s offer, according to The Times.
Separately, in July the BMA wrote to Mr Streeting urging the government to review the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan with more focus on staff retention and resource management.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “The NHS is broken and we want to shift the focus out of hospitals and into the community, fixing the front door of the NHS and ending the misery of people waiting weeks for a GP appointment.
“We have committed to recruiting over 1,000 newly qualified GPs through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme and cutting red tape.
“This government is also accepting the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration’s (DDRB) pay recommendation of a 6% uplift to pay and is consulting on the implementation.”