Wes Streeting wants hard truths? General practice needs nationalising

drtomriddington@pm.me Wes Streeting, the new health and social care secretary, has briefed Ara Darzi to tell “hard truths” in a new independent review of NHS performance in England.1 There is no harder truth in primary care than the conflict of interest inherent in general practitioner partnerships....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMJ (Online) 2024-08, Vol.386, p.q1838
Main Author: Riddington, Tom
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
COVID-19 - epidemiology
General Practice
Humans
Letters
Primary care
Profits
State Medicine
United Kingdom
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Summary:drtomriddington@pm.me Wes Streeting, the new health and social care secretary, has briefed Ara Darzi to tell “hard truths” in a new independent review of NHS performance in England.1 There is no harder truth in primary care than the conflict of interest inherent in general practitioner partnerships. “Bring back the family doctor,” says Wes Streeting.2 Labour’s shift in funding priorities to prevention, recognising the power of general practice to keep people well, is welcome respite. When times were good, profits soared, enriching partners rather than being wholly fed back into the NHS.4 When budgets are squeezed, surgeries can face closure despite providing a relatively bare bones service.5 Drawing the comparison with social care highlights the problem.
ISSN:1756-1833
1756-1833
DOI:10.1136/bmj.q1838