NHS boss in spat with Hunt over GPs

In recent weeks there has been a war of words between the Minister and general practitioners, with Mr Hunt saying that changes to the GP contract in 2004 has contributed to the growing A&E crisis across England and that the concept of the family doctor had been “lost”.

But Sir David told the Health Service Journal (HSJ) that the way primary care is demonised is “very bad”.

He that general practice is “a cornerstone of the NHS” and internationally admired, adding: “I am a big fan of general practice and I think the way sometimes it is demonised is very bad, and very bad for patients.”

But he said primary care needed to be “modernised” and that the NHS needed to “think very carefully” about delivery of “what’s traditionally described as out of hours care”.

Mr Hunt later told delegates at the NHS Confederation conference in Liverpool that part of the solution to the current A&E crisis was making sure that there are “primary care alternatives where appropriate”.

He said: “I know there has been a lot of discussion about the GP contract but I think it would be wrong to say that this is only about the GP contract.

He added: “Who is the accountable clinician (for vulnerable older patients) when they are outside hospital?

“For me, as a member of the public, I would like that to be my GP and I think many GPs would like that too. I think we need to rediscover in a modern context the idea of family doctoring, where you have doctors in the community who know at any one time what is happening with their most vulnerable patients.

“That is at the heart of the debate we need to have about primary care, to make sure that for our most vulnerable older patients there is always an accountable clinician outside hospital, just as there is always an accountable consultant inside hospital.”

During the interview with the magazine, Sir David also also announced a review of NHS strategy.

Sir David, who will retire from his role as chief executive of NHS England in March next year, told the HSJ that NHS England’s strategy would seek to “liberate” the service to “experiment” with a range of solutions to challenges faced by the NHS.

He added that the organisation is “separate from the government [and can] look strategically... see outside of the electoral cycle”.

NHS England will publish a “case for change” then lead a national discussion with the public on a three-to-five year NHS service strategy. The findings are expected to be published early next year, he said.