Professor Martin Marshall, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said he was ‘really concerned’ the UK could reach a point where patients have to pay fees for doctor appointments
The country’s top doctor warns that general practice could follow a similar path to dentistry – with millions paying for appointments.
Professor Martin Marshall, president of the Royal College of Physicians, admits he is ‘really interested’ in the field, which has been plagued by a staffing crisis.
GPs are choosing to retire in their 50s, move abroad or leave to work in the private sector because of increased demand and paperwork.
Unless the situation changes drastically, the UK taxpayer-funded GP sector could be left hands-on.
Professor Marshall warned to see patients unable to pay left with an ‘insufficient safety net’.
While GP appointments are free, UK patients have to spend £23.80 on any routine dental check-ups.
Poorer patients said they had no choice but to pull their own teeth or travel abroad for cheaper dental treatment.
Overall, there are now nearly 1,700 comparable full-time general practitioners compared to 2015. But the projections warn that the gap could be even larger.
It has led to a massive appointment crisis, with patients struggling to see doctors and mounting pressure on A&E units.
Official health service data, which records the number of adults seeing an NHS dentist over a 24-month period, shows a dramatic drop in dentist visits since the pandemic hit. While people struggled to access NHS dental services before Covid due to a lack of appointments, the situation has worsened further with 6 million fewer people being seen than pre-pandemic levels.
Millions of people have been left without access to dental care after the number of NHS dentists fell to an all-time low last year.
Professor Marshall’s comments were made today at a panel discussing the future of practice in general, organized by the Policy Exchange advisory group.
He said: ‘Dentists are increasingly finding it difficult to deliver the service they want to apply to their patients and [are] will therefore go private.
‘And now we’ve ended up in a place where safety net service is very inadequate for people who can’t afford it and the majority of people pay for their dental care.
‘Can general practice go in that direction? It can be done. ‘
Professor Marshall argues that “more and more general practitioners” are deciding to work privately across the country, “not just in major metropolitan areas”.
He added: ‘That worries me a lot because the basic principle of the NHS revolves around open access for all, without discrimination.
solvency, that’s an important principle to my mind.
‘It’s an important part of what’s important to us as a set of values as a country that I’m very worried about. So yes, I am worried. ‘
Only children, pregnant women, new mothers and people on pension are eligible for free dental treatment on the NHS.
All others must pay at least £23.80 to the NHS for routine check-ups, diagnosis and consultations, as well as urgent care.
If they go privately, the cost of a check-up can be as high as £120, while fillings can cost up to £175 and extractions as high as £370.
Many patients have been forced to go private as dental surgeries close their doors to NHS patients, saying it is no longer financially viable to deliver the procedures at medical service rates.
Almost 90% of practices in the UK are currently not accepting new patients.
Patients have been known to call up to 40 practice sessions to find an NHS dentist taking on new patients.
Health chiefs announced a plan this week to ease the dentist-booking crisis, which will leave patients waiting up to two years between checkups, instead of six months.
It occurs when patient satisfaction with practice in general has fallen across the board. A poll of 700,000 people with long-term health conditions in the UK found that only 72% of patients reported a good experience with their surgery (shown in map)
The survey also found that more than half of patients (55%) who needed an appointment in the 12 months to April failed to book an appointment, up from 42% the year before. The main reason a quarter of patients was that it was too difficult to book, while a fifth said they did not want to burden the NHS
In another move designed to ease pressure on dentists, dental practitioners will now be allowed to perform fillings and a range of treatments.
Under the guidance of a former therapist, trained only for routine work, waiting for instructions on how to treat the patient.
Dentists are also required to publish updates on whether they are accepting new NHS patients.
Speaking at the Policy Exchange event, Jacob Lant, head of policy, public affairs and research at Healthwatch UK warned that general practice would follow in the footsteps of dentistry if patients were to die. associated with one more practice.
He said: ‘In 2006 we ended the idea that you have to practice dentistry. So you don’t check in at the dentist the same way you go to the GP.
‘You could theoretically go anywhere. But that then makes access much more complicated.
‘If we break the relationship between the patient and their GP, we could certainly end up in the same place as we do with dentistry.’
It occurs when patient satisfaction with practice in general has fallen across the board.
A poll of 700,000 people with a long-term health condition in the UK found that more than half of patients (55%) who needed an appointment within the 12 months to April failed to secure an appointment, up from with 42% of the previous year.
The main reason a quarter of patients was that it was too difficult to book a room, while a fifth said they did not want to burden the NHS.
Patients struggle to see GPs for tests, treatments and drug reviews during the pandemic as surgeries shift much of consultation to phone and video.
Source: | This article originally belonged to Dailymail.co.uk
