The government is making plans to stop GPs having to rearrange missed outpatient hospital appointments for their patients.

When patients miss their outpatient appointments, currently they have to go back to their GP to be referred again for hospital treatment. The Department of Health has stated that this is wasting GPs’ time as according to them, 2.5% of GPs’ time is taken up by re-referrals.

A report by the NHS Alliance has stated that co-ordination between hospitals and GPs, and better use of technology could result in 27% of appointments being avoided. This would free up doctors time to see other patients.

In addition, there is a plan to provide ratings for organisations which pay for healthcare in local areas. From mid-2016, the clinical commissioning groups’ performance in certain areas will be published by NHS England.

Health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has said that “by being more transparent than ever before about crucial services and freeing up more time for GPs to care, we really can make NHS patients the most powerful in the world.”

Dr Maureen Baker, chairman of the Royal College of GPs has said whilst she is positive about the steps put forward to reduce bureaucracy in general practice she “… question (s) whether the introduction of Ofsted-style ratings systems for area health teams will improve patient care whilst there is no evidence that this does improve outcomes in a health setting.”

The team at Moosa-Duke Solicitors hope that this a step in the right direction to providing patients with the care they require.

If you or a loved one have suffered as a result of a failure / poor care by a medical professional, call us for a no obligation discussion on 0116 254 7456.