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our latest news
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Sturminster Newton Medical Centre
Old Market Hill
Sturminster Newton Dorset DT10 1QU
01258 474500
Fax: 01258 471547 |
Marnhull Surgery Church Hill, Marnhull Dorset DT10 1PU
01258 820015
Fax: 01258 821266 |
Call NHS Direct
on 0845 4647
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If you don't smoke, keep active, watch your weight, drink in moderation and don't worry too much, then you probably won't need us at all!
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news | government funding cuts threaten GP services
Despite the Government’s recent £11 million survey of 2.3 million patients showing great satisfaction with GP services, they have decided to force through measures to ‘improve access’, and are moving to unilaterally alter the GP contract from April 1st 2008. These measures include punitive cuts in funding to GP Practices. These cuts may harm patient care and will actually worsen access to GPs.
patients need to be aware of this
On December 21st 2007 the Government announced proposed cuts which may see our surgery lose up to £40,000 in funding this year. Some is to be handed back to Practices that open late in the evening, but not enough to cover the cost of staffing and running those surgeries.
what effect could these cuts have?
Far from improving access for patients, these cuts are likely to result in:
- Fewer appointments during the day
- Loss of the ability to see a GP within 48 hours for routine problems
- Loss of some specialised clinics for diabetes, heart disease, stroke and COPD
- Planned developments for quality care having to be abandoned.
why the cuts in funding?
This appears to be part of a purely politically-inspired campaign for late evening surgeries. Large amounts of funding are being removed from quality, evidence-based health interventions and shifted to other areas, with patient care potentially becoming fragmented and impersonal as a result.
Much of the funding removed from GP surgeries is to be given to private companies to run new Polyclinics and other ill-thought-out schemes. None of these is likely to be situated in North Dorset. This will result in a loss of continuity of care and personal service and will particularly affect elderly patients and those with long-term chronic illness.
As your GPs we are extremely concerned by this situation and feel that our patients need to be aware of the very significant threat to the high quality GP care we have always sought to provide in Sturminster Newton and Marnhull.
Please support your GP Practice by sending your views to your local MP, Bob Walter, who will be meeting us later this month to discuss this.
Email: walterr@parliament.uk
Robert Walter MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA |
online petition
Below is an online petition direct to the government regarding the current proposed funding cuts to general practice, please let the government know how you feel by signing this online petition, please also encourage your friends and relatives to sign up. This will take a few short minutes of your time to complete. Thank you for your support.
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Polyclinics/ |
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