Full story in The Guardian, 7 August 2018
Family doctors are demanding an emergency cash injection of £2.5bn to help struggling surgeries cope with demand and offer patients appointments within a reasonable time.
Leaders of the profession want NHS bosses to plough some of the extra £20bn health funding pledged by Theresa May into improving the services offered by England’s 7,150 GP practices.
The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) is warning that waiting times for consultations will lengthen and the care patients receive will suffer unless NHS England agrees the cash boost.
Under current plans, GP services are due to receive £12bn of the NHS budget by 2020-21. But the RCGP believes that should be revised to £14.5bn.
The money is needed to help with the growing demand to see a GP, a rise in long-term illnesses such as diabetes, and a growing shortage of family doctors, the college said.