In February we wrote to London MPs to share the local challenges that practices have raised with us as and common issues affecting the whole Capital. We are now arranging meetings between LMC members, local practice staff, MPs, and their advisors to discuss those challenges, and the wider landscape, most recently the ongoing problem of workforce retention.
If your practice would like to help by showing an MP the work you are doing and the challenges you face please get in touch.
This Wikipedia page is updated with candidates for London constituencies on a fairly regular basis.
Using data from our workforce survey, we outlined the challenges faced by GPs and their practice teams as well as the immense effort all team members are putting in. Letters have gone to each MP with a constituency that covers one of our LMC areas. In addition to specific local challenges, each letter includes details on:
- General practice capacity in London: the number of GP appointments has increased by 21% compared to 2019 (pre-pandemic), despite the closure of 77 practices and high numbers of vacancies.
- Primary/secondary care interface: more could be done to streamline prescribing before discharge from hospitals and referrals between hospital departments. Patients are struggling with referral delays, which strains relationships with GPs and creates additional work for them.
- Patient safety: demand is outpacing supply, which consequently undermines patient trust and damages practitioner morale.
We are also encouraging MPs to push for action at the top of government on workforce planning and workload management, along with communicating realistic expectations of general practice to the public.
You can keep up to date with our work supporting GPs in London with media engagement, new resources and guidance updates by following Londonwide LMCs on social media and in the news section of our website.