NHS Plan: No quick fix to NHS issues, says Halifax GP

Dr Sohail Ahmed, GP Partner at Caritas Group Practice which covers Woodside Surgery in Boothtown, Mixenden Stones Surgery and Shelf Health Centre, said there are problems that existed before the pandemic that will not be fixed by the Government’s latest proposals.

Health and Social Care Secretary Thérèse Coffey set out a new plan for patients earlier this week, which she said is aimed at giving patients easier access to NHS and social care.

It included a package of measures she claims will improve access to general practices, with plans to “free up over one million appointments per year”.

But Dr Ahmed said there is no quick fix for the issues GPs are facing.

"Covid has exposed a lot of issues that were already there,” he said.

"The demands on the system have risen exponentially but the system that is in place is 15 to 20 years behind.”

He said more doctors are needed, but it takes years to train a GP.

Dr Ahmed added the plans seems to respond to a narrative that GPs are not seeing their patients, but he said that is not true.

With help from an online consulting system – which helps patients decide whether they need to see a doctor face-to-face - he sees up to 70 patients a day.

His urged people to join their practices patient representation groups to share their concerns with their GPs and work together to get them addressed.

"Communicate with your surgery,” he said. “Let them know what changes you want to see.”