Top doctor accuses Theresa May of ‘scapegoating’ NHS staff – and putting patients’ lives at risk
In a scathing letter to the Prime Minister, the chair of the BMA, Dr Mark Porter said he was "horrified" to see her "lay the blame on general practice"
THE Prime Minister has today been accused of "deliberately scapegoating" NHS and risking patients' lives by underfunding services.
In a scathing letter, one of the country's leading medics, Dr Mark Porter said Theresa May has "played down" the scale of the "titanic" crisis that is gripping the health service.
The chair of the British Medical Association (BMA) said he was "horrified" at the Government's suggestion that the blame lay with GPs.
In a scathing letter to the Prime Minister, Dr Porter, accused Downing Street of "seeking to deliberately distract from what is really happening in the NHS".
He highlighted how underfunding services, and "salami slicing" has led to a situation where patients' lives and wellbeing are being put at risk.
Addressing accusations by the Government that GPs were to blame for the pressures on A&E, Dr Porter said: "I have been horrified to see the position which you have taken in responding to the current crisis in the NHS in England.
"In playing down what is happening in hospitals up and down the country - with beds at full capacity, daily breaches in A&E, and critical operations being cancelled - and in then seeking to lay the blame on general practice, your government appears to be seeking deliberately to distract from what is really happening in the NHS."
In seeking to lay the blame on general practice, your government appears to be seeking deliberately to distract from what is really happening in the NHS
Dr Mark Porter
Dr Porter's concerns come after more than four in 10 hospitals in England declared a major alert in the first week of this year.
And, as the Red Cross said the NHS was in the middle of a "humanitarian crisis".
At the weekend it emerged a "large number" of hospitals are being forced to cancel cancer operations this winter.
Clare Marx, president of the Royal College of Surgeons told The Observer: "It is increasingly clear that no part of the system and no patient is immune from the pressure the NHS is experiencing."
In his letter to the Prime Minister, Dr Porter said claims by the Government that is has "fully funded" the NHS' own plan for modernising services are now "widely discredited - not least by the chief executive of NHS England".
He added: "The facts simply speak for themselves.
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"Services are failing patients and their families, tying the hands of those who care for them, in the face of titanic pressures across the system.
“The continual salami slicing, the presentation of cuts as improvements in the face of palpably deteriorating services and the scapegoating of those who work in the service have led to this situation, one in which patients’ lives and well-being are at risk.
"This should not be acceptable for any government.”
Dr Porter has requested an urgent meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss the crisis.
A Government spokesperson told The Sun Online: "We know the NHS is under increased pressure at the moment and staff and hospitals are working hard to cope with the extra demands winter brings.
"GPs play a vital role in reducing pressure on A&;Es, which is why we want to see extended surgery opening times, backed by an extra £528m per year in funding by 2020/21."
DR PORTER'S LETTER IN FULL
17 January 2017
Dear prime minister,
I have been horrified to see the position which you have taken in responding to the current crisis in the NHS in England. In playing down what is happening in hospitals up and down the country – with beds at full capacity, daily breaches in A&E, and critical operations being cancelled – and in then seeking to lay the blame on general practice, your government appears to be seeking deliberately to distract from what is really happening in the NHS.
The government’s attempt to scapegoat GPs for a system wide crisis resulting from years of underfunding must be addressed. The current crisis in the health service extends well beyond A&Es, with all parts of the NHS, including GP surgeries, working as hard as possible to keep up with demand. As the chair of the BMA general practice committee has made clear, GPs are seeing more patients than ever before, despite a severe workforce shortage with one in three practices with unfilled GP vacancies, and a recent BMA survey of more than 5,000 GPs found that 84 per cent said their workload is unmanageable and having a direct impact on the quality and safety of patient care. The issues which we are seeing: hospitals declaring alerts indicating their organisations are unable to deliver comprehensive care; trollies with seriously ill patients backed up in corridors; patients being sent home because there are no beds available for them or waiting hours on end in ambulances before being admitted, are not due to a difficulty in accessing a GP and certainly will not be solved by penalising and scapegoating an already critically under-resourced and understaffed general practice.
The BMA has repeatedly raised with the government that the current NHS funding settlement is inadequate to deliver the standard of care which patients deserve and that doctors and our colleagues in health and social care want to be able to provide. The government position that it has “fully funded” the NHS’ own plan for modernising services is now widely discredited – not least by the chief executive of NHS England - and the facts simply speak for themselves. Services are failing patients and their families, tying the hands of those who care for them, in the face of titanic pressures across the system.
I have heard your refusal to acknowledge that the increases in funding called for by every corner of the health sector and experienced commentators are necessary to address both the current crisis and safeguard the future of the NHS. You say that funding needs to go hand in hand with reform and the BMA, with many others, would accept that changes are necessary to respond to our population’s needs. But the continual salami slicing, the presentation of cuts as improvements in the face of palpably deteriorating services and the scapegoating of those who work in the service have led to this situation, one in which patients’ lives and well-being are at risk. This should not be acceptable for any government.
So, I write to request an urgent meeting so that you can meet and talk to working doctors to hear the reality of delivering care in this country in 2017. We want to be part of the solution to the challenges which the NHS faces and hope you will take up what is a genuine offer to meet and to work with you to try to find and agree a solution to the pressures currently facing the NHS.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Mark Porter
BMA council chair