A perturbing survey from Ramsay Brown finds that government decisions have unfairly tarnished the public’s perception of general practice.
More than three-quarters (77%) of the British public do not believe GPs work hard enough.
The shocking results of a recent survey commissioned by London-based specialist medical accountancy firm Ramsay Brown follows a string of policies imposed on the sector, including last year’s Autumn Budget.
Conducted by leading research consultancy Censuswide, the survey polled 2,001 nationally representative members of the UK general public regarding their attitudes toward GPs, their workloads, salaries and pensions, as well as the funding they receive.
“We commissioned this survey to get to the core of the public’s attitudes toward our frontline primary care providers. We’ve seen the damaging impact government policy has had on family doctors over the past few years and wanted to understand how this has translated into public opinion,” said Ramsay Brown partner Katie Collin.
“The data suggests that poor policy decisions have soured GPs’ reputations, with the public placing some of the blame at their door. The truth is we’re seeing worrying misconceptions that, in reality, don’t hold water,” she continued.
Worrying misconceptions
For Ramsay Brown, the results reveal the public’s frustration with the UK’s medical services and suggest that a concerning proportion blame primary care providers directly. For them, the data uncovers “worrying” misconceptions and only further stresses the shortcomings of government policymaking in the sector.
“GPs across the country are doing a remarkable amount of work in extremely challenging conditions. Time and time again, the government delivers funding that’s tied up in complex structures and attached to complicated conditions and targets, ramping up GPs’ workloads. Despite this year’s funding boost, the reality is that GPs will still be overworked and under-resourced – not the opposite,” said Collin.
“This is only compounded when you consider the hoops GPs have had to jump through in the last year. From miscalculated pay increases and inaccurate pension statements to the Chancellor’s NI-raising Budget and subsequent to-ing and fro-ing over whether practices would have to foot the bill – GPs haven’t had it easy,” she continued.
The government’s damaging decisions, she believes, have unfairly tarnished the public’s perception of general practice, undermining the difficulties GPs face daily.
“At the end of the day, these misconceptions make one thing abundantly clear: without a more productive approach to health policy, the Government will only continue to erode public opinion on primary care – perhaps even past the point of no return,” she concluded.
