GP industrial action could drive 1.2million more people to A&E, NHS bosses fear. Family doctors are planning the first mass “work to rule” protest for decades.
The British Medical Association says they are underpaid and overworked with dangerously long patient lists. Thousands across England are set to slash the number of appointments available , stop working overtime and refer more patients straight to hospital. Leaked projections by NHS England suggest the action could cost half a billion pounds .
If GPs reduce their workload by 30 per cent between August and November, it could lead to 1.2million more visits to A&E, according to a report leaked to the Health Service Journal. Casualty departments are already busier than ever this year with more than two million visitors per month and a record 2.
4m in May. Another 430,000 people would be added to hospital waiting lists, 1.8m more would go to pharmacies and 1.
8m more would call NHS 111, the report estimated. That scenario could cost the health service £570million. Strikes by nurses , junior doctors and consultants are already estimated to have cost more than £1.
5billion. Most read in Health Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “I understand why GPs chose to ballot in opposition to the previous government, because under the Conservatives general practice was driven into the ground. "And we ended up in a situation where patients couldn't get a GP appointment, and yet qualified GPs couldn't get a job.
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