NHS changes are ‘enormous’ but GPs can do it, says doctor

Dr David Spraggett of Castle Medical Centre in Kenilworth is leading a new group - a ‘pathfinder consortia’ - which will see GPs across south Warwickshire working with NHS Warwickshire managers and social care professionals at the county council to learn more about what they do.

The Coalition Government’s shake-up of the health service will mean the doctors, alongside seeing patients, will take over these roles in 2013.

Dr Spraggett said: “It’s an enormous change. We don’t actually know what elements we are going to be responsible for because it has not yet been made completely clear by the Government.

“But it’s an opportunity for us to work with patients we see on a day-to-day basis and alter services in ways we think it will benefit them better.”

The GP, who has been practising at the Kenilworth centre for 25 years, admitted that financial pressures and time management will have an impact on surgeries, but he said: “Most of the work will be done by colleagues who have experience of working with the PCT already, so we can do things in the most efficient way.

“Clearly I was trained as a doctor, not as a manager, but hopefully the impact won’t be anywhere near as great as has been suggested in the press.”

Concerns about the potential impact on healthcare for children were raised this week in the British Medical Journal by a group of senior paediatricians, public health specialists and family doctors, who argued that many GPs lack specialist training and experience in looking after children.

But Dr Spraggett said this was an “awful generalisation”, pointing out that in south Warwickshire, there are a high number of doctors with experience and training in this area.

He added: “The unknown for me and my colleagues is how much we will be genuinely allowed to tailor things.

“We will get blamed if things don’t go correctly. Whether we will get the necessary tools to control that, I am not so sure. Some of the things we might want to do will be contrary to a ‘one size fits all’ approach usually favoured by the Government.

“The change is fairly fundamental. If we go about it correctly, it will be an evolution rather than a revolution.”