GPs to offer better care for elderly, Skype consultations and extended opening hours

GPs will offer elderly people personalised care, including individual care plans reviewed regularly with patients and carers by GPs, a named GP responsible for their care and same-day access to a GP when they need it, according to Government proposals.

Care homes will also be offered a dedicated helpline giving advice on treatment for patients.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: “Moving nearly a million people onto proactive care plans is one of the biggest changes that we need to make in our NHS. People want to know that their parents and relatives will get constant care if they have a long-term condition.

“Many doctors already give great care but I want to make sure this is completely co-ordinated to head off problems and keep people from going to hospital unnecessarily.”

GPs to chat to patients on Skype or by email

Under the reforms, over 7.5m people in England, will also be able to visit their GP seven days a week and be offered appointments between 8am and 8pm. In addition, patients will be able to chat to their GP on Skype or by email.

Prime Minister, David Cameron, said that the policy is being proposed because “back in October, I said I wanted to make it easier for people to get appointments that fit in around a busy working week and family commitments.”

He called it an “important step and good news for patients” and added: “There has been a great response from doctors, with lots of innovative ideas, and we will now see over seven million patients given weekend and evening opening hours, alongside more access to their family doctor on the phone, via email or even Skype.”

Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England believes the plans “represent the start of a fundamental shift in care from hospital to home, in which people will be given more on-going support to better manage conditions in the community rather than being admitted to hospital”.

He said: “People are living longer with more complex needs, which is putting pressure on the NHS. The 4.2 million people over 75 in England is expected to rise to 6.3 million by 2026. And by 2018, three million people will have three or more long-term conditions. However, more than a quarter of people with long-term conditions say they are not well cared for by the NHS, and two-fifths say they expect their care to get worse over the coming years.”

Extended hours funded by £50m GP Access Fund

The extended opening hours for GPs will be funded by the Prime Minister’s £50m GP Access Fund, which will support 1,147 practices covering every region to offer extra services for those who struggle to find appointments that fit in with their family and work life.

Personalised care for the most vulnerable – 800,000 people with the most complex needs, mostly aged over 75, will also be enrolled onto a separate Transforming Primary Care programme of proactive, personalised care in the community.

These patients will be offered a proactive enhanced service including: individual care plans reviewed regularly with patients and carers by GPs, nurses, carers and other health professionals; a named GP responsible for their care; and same-day access to a GP.

BMA says changes need to be properly supported

However, the British Medical Association (BMA) said in order for GPs to deliver more personalised care to vulnerable patients, there needs to be new investment in a range of patient services and general practice.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the BMA’s General Practice Committee, said: “GPs have for many years been at the forefront of delivering care in the community to the millions of vulnerable patients with complex needs, who need coordinated support with their conditions.

“The changes negotiated by the BMA to the GP contract in England will help to build on this good work. GPs want the best possible care for their most vulnerable and frail patients, which includes avoiding the distress of a preventable hospital admission.

“However, these changes will need to be properly supported. The Government must take further action so that community, social and urgent care work in tandem to deliver truly holistic care to patients. Ministers must also deliver on their commitment to increase resources in the community so that there are more GPs, nurses and other health and social care services to provide coordinated care to the escalating number of patients who need care closer to home. This will enable GPs to be properly supported and have the time and ability to deliver the personalised care that patients deserve.”

Tories blamed for removing Labour's GP appointment guarantee

While Andy Burnham, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, blamed the current problems people face in getting a GP appointment on the Conservatives.

He said: “People know from their own experience that it has got much harder to get a GP appointment under David Cameron.

“He has left people ringing surgeries early in the morning only to be told there is nothing is available for days. This is because, within weeks of taking office, he removed Labour’s guarantee of an appointment within 48 hours. David Cameron also cut the money for later opening hours and now hundreds of surgeries are closing earlier.”

Other GP services that will be rolled out from May into next year include electronic prescriptions and online booking of appointments, easier, on-line registration and choice of practice, joining-up of urgent care and out-of-hours care to ensure rapid walk-in access to care, greater flexibility about how people access general practice, for instance with the option to visit a number of GP surgery sites in their area and better access to ‘telecare’ to help sick people stay comfortable at home, as well as to healthy living apps.

The Transforming Primary Care programme will be supported by dedicated funding of almost £500 per patient in GP time and a commitment to train 10,000 more frontline community staff, including GPs, nurses and other professionals, by 2020.

The enhanced service also includes offering paramedics, A&E doctors and care homes a dedicated hotline to advise how to treat patients, quicker, coordinating care for vulnerable patients discharged from hospital, plus reviewing how individual patients can avoid emergency admissions in future.

To vote on our poll on the benefits of Skype consultations go to www.homecare.co.uk/news/article.cfm/id/19/if-face-to-face-gp-appointments-are-replaced-by-skype-will-it-further-isolate-people-who-are-housebound