SAVE OUR SURGERIES

GP surgeries in Hackney and elsewhere are threatened by government changes to the funding for them.

Only last week the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has warned that GPs are likely to turn away patients over 50 million times next year and that a lack of investment has brought the service to its knees.

On Wednesday 6th August, a petition that Meg signed was handed in at 10 Downing Street for the attention of the Prime Minister.

The letter to David Cameron read as follows;

“Dear Prime Minister,

Save Our Surgeries Campaign

We are writing to you as supporters of the 'Save Our Surgeries' campaign, to raise our concerns about the Government phasing out the ‘minimum practice income guarantee’ (MPIG) for GP surgeries across the UK. We have enclosed a petition comprised of an online and paper petition signed by over 15,000 people expressing their deep concerns about the withdrawal of the MPIG which is threatening many practices with bankruptcy.

The campaign has drawn support from a broad coalition of GP surgeries, MPs, unions, health and community organisations and individuals who believe the Government needs to fund general practices more fairly by taking into account deprivation levels in inner city and rural areas. NHS England has identified 98 'outlier' surgeries across the UK which will struggle to survive as a result of these changes. Although the Government has so far failed to publish the names of the threatened surgeries, it is known that 22 serve communities across Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Newham. Five are known to be in Tower Hamlets alone.

Jim Fitzpatrick MP for Poplar and Limehouse, secured a Westminster Hall Debate on 13 May 2014 on the impact of the issue on GP services in Tower Hamlets, and Rushanara Ali MP for Bethnal Green and Bow raised concerns with you during Prime Ministers Questions on 18 June 2014. Thousands of supporters of the campaign took to the streets in Tower Hamlets and Hackney on 05 July 2014 to demonstrate their deep concerns about the impending threat of closure that now overshadows the important work of some 98 GP surgeries around the country.

Reduced funding resulting in the potential closure of GP surgeries not only in Tower Hamlets but nationwide will undoubtedly have serious implications for thousands of people who expect to be able to visit their local GP services they know and trust. The Government's reforms will be damaging to people's healthcare and will particularly harm some of the poorest communities in the country. In Tower Hamlets alone there are high levels of poverty and health inequalities with over 40% of children living in poverty and life expectancies below the national average, these changes will be devastating. Only last week the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has warned that GPs are likely to turn away patients over 50 million times next year and that a lack of investment has brought the service to its knees.

Our local GP services play a crucial role in allowing local residents to access frontline primary care. With intense pressure already mounting on our practices and A&E services, and with residents experiencing even longer waiting times before seeing their GP, this decision will be devastating for local people.

We ask you to take urgent action to prevent closure of these GP's surgeries.”

Further information on the campaign can be found here.