“General practice is in crisis”; that is how this King’s Fund report start its analysis, pointing to funding and workforce as two of the main problems in general practice situation. Increasing needs and complexity, trends of moving patients from hospital to communities and rising expectations in population act as factors that increase pressures in general practice.

This report identifies some immediate priorities and some future challenges in order to protect general practice and to make it can face future needs.

Immediate priorities would be: (I) providing practical support to practices, (II) accelerating the uptake of technologies that can help practice deal with growing pressures more effectively, (III) encouraging reshaping of workforce in primary care, (IV) reducing bureaucratic burdens, (V) placing primary care at the heart of sustainability and transformation plans, (VI) supporting patients to use health services appropriately.
Long-term challenges pointed by this report are: (I) solving deficiencies in data and intelligence that have allowed current crisis to develop, (II) developing new and innovative models of primary care, (III) enabling health professionals to coordinate with local population, (IV) designing  a workforce strategy to support more sustainable careers for GPs and their fellow team members, promoting sustainable and fulfilling options for development and recognising changing career preferences among GPs.

Source:

Kings Fund