GP warns general practice ‘on brink of collapse’ as he launches private service in NHS surgery

AN NHS GP surgery has told patients they can skip waiting lists to see their doctor - if they cough up £145.

The surgery has launched a private service - operated by exactly the same NHS doctors - to run alongside its NHS services.

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But patients have to fork out £40 for a 10-minute phone consultation, £80 for a 20 minute face-to-face appointment and £145 for a 40-minute consultation.

Dr Tim Alder warned general practice was on "the brink of collapse" and "heading for privatisation" as he decided to launch the controversial Dorset Private GP Service at Poole Road Medical Centre in Bournemouth, Dorset.
NHS patients at the surgery have to wait four weeks for a seven-minute appointment with one of the practice's four doctors if they are not eligible for its same-day walk-in service.
But critics have slated the move as a "kick in the teeth" for the NHS and patients, claiming it creates a two-tier health system and goes against the principle of reducing inequalities in healthcare.

Dr Alder said increasing demand, a recruitment crisis and lack of funding as well as private provider Virgin Care taking over practices across the country meant the new service was the only way to safeguard the surgery's future.

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He said: "The Government is not trying to save general practice and now it is on the brink of collapse. But when it's gone, they'll realise how good we have been at blocking access to the hospitals. By then, it will be too late.
"We have to try something different now to make ourselves stronger in anticipation NHS primary care will be even worse.
"The worry is that Virgin Care, who are already buying up practices, are going to come in and would then just take us over.
"I suppose we'd rather be in charge of our own destiny."

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The doctor said he hoped the private service would help relieve waiting lists - and said the NHS practice would continue to operate as normal.
He said: "I'd love to be able to say you can have 20 minutes with me on the NHS but that is not going to happen until we have twice as many GPs.
"We've got to keep the NHS working here, that's our desire and we will do our best for our NHS patients."

Current rules ban GPs from charging their own patients for any treatment as this is deemed to be a conflict of interest.
Prime Minister Theresa May blamed GPs for being a cause of the crisis in the NHS and hospital pressures - and said GP practices would be required to open seven days a week or face funding cuts.
But Dr Alder, who has practised for 18 years, said GPs were already working 55-hour weeks and a seven-day service would "dilute care".
He said: "Those comments really alienated a lot of GPs.
"We believe quality general practice is vital in any modern and increasingly complex health service as a means of steering and supporting people through the often confusing health paths.
"Sadly the NHS is no longer prioritising it and we can see a time when traditional GPs are private and the majority of patients are instead seen in clinics based in hospitals like minor A&E departments. The personal touch and the 'whole patient' knowledge will be lost.
Healthwatch Dorset manager Martyn Webster said: "At a time when we are hearing so much about how overworked GPs are and how they don't have time to give their patients the care they need, it seems that some actually do have time to spare and that time is for sale to those who can afford to buy it.
"NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group and the Care Quality Commission need to keep a close eye on this practice to make sure that the standard of NHS services there doesn't suffer because of this new private venture."
Tim Goodson, chief officer of Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group, said: "We will continue to be commissioning GP services. In fact, the NHS nationally is putting in a lot of investment into primary care and GP services over the coming four years.
"GP services have been the backbone of the NHS since its inception. The vast majority of people's contact with the NHS is with their GP and that will continue."

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