British Medical Association says blueprint could exacerbate GP shortage and see many leave the profession
GP leaders have warned that giving patients guaranteed face-to-face appointments could lead to a crippling exodus of family doctors already exhausted by the pandemic and despairing of being “pilloried” by ministers.
The profession’s key bodies claimed the government’s plan to force them to see in person every patient who asks will exacerbate the already serious shortage of doctors, especially as the proposal includes “naming and shaming” surgeries which do not comply.
