The future of NHS primary care should focus on integration not fragmentation

The aim is to allow general practitioners (GPs) to primarily focus on the latter group of patients.12 While this approach appears superficially to be a rational solution to manage escalating workload in general practice by diverting some patients to be managed elsewhere, it also raises substantial c...

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Published inBMJ (Online) Vol. 385; p. q1087
Main Authors Chan, See Chai Carol, Wright, Rebecca, Majeed, Azeem
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England British Medical Journal Publishing Group 14.05.2024
BMJ Publishing Group LTD
Subjects
Chronic illnesses
Collaboration
Continuity of care
Delivery of Health Care, Integrated - organization & administration
Delivery of Health Care, Integrated - trends
Forecasting
Health care
Health care access
Humans
Integrated delivery systems
Long term health care
Opinion
Patient satisfaction
Patients
Primary care
Primary Health Care - organization & administration
Primary Health Care - trends
State Medicine - organization & administration
Teams
United Kingdom
Workloads
United Kingdom
United Kingdom > UK
England
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Summary:The aim is to allow general practitioners (GPs) to primarily focus on the latter group of patients.12 While this approach appears superficially to be a rational solution to manage escalating workload in general practice by diverting some patients to be managed elsewhere, it also raises substantial concerns about the potential unintended effects. Beyond the clinical implications, separating primary care services could affect NHS efficiency and costs.5 Duplication of services and higher administrative overheads will increase healthcare expenses without improving patient outcomes or clinician productivity.6 The split of services may also result in confusion, especially for those in vulnerable groups like older people or non-native English speakers who already struggle with navigating the existing healthcare system. Through recruiting multidisciplinary team members such as district nurses, therapists, social workers, pharmacists, care-coordinators and social prescribers to work as part of a comprehensive primary care team, we can provide a more coordinated approach to tackle a full spectrum of health issues.9 This model fosters stronger patient-provider relationships, improves patient satisfaction and empowerment, and is more cost-effective than the fragmented services currently being implemented in parts of England.
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ISSN:1756-1833
1756-1833
DOI:10.1136/bmj.q1087