Wargrave Surgery could suffer from pressure on GPs, patient groups warns

Diagnosing patients by email could be one possible solution if services at the Wargrave Surgery change in the coming years due to financial pressures, the Patients Participation Group has warned.

Reductions in NHS funding and the difficulty in attracting new GPs are among the main reasons Wargrave and other practices are experiencing difficulties.

It could force the surgery into trying different ways of caring for patients, such as triaging them via telephone or diagnosing by email. Similar solutions have already been trialled.

Tom Berman, chairman of the PPG, which meets regularly with staff at the practice, said the surgery in Victoria Road had been less affected than others recently, but that could change.

He explained: “We’ve been lucky in Wargrave – we have a good doctor to patient ratio.”

In a letter to members of the PPG, he said it was too early to speculate on what the changes could be, but suggestions were based on what surgeries similar to Wargrave have considered implementing.

He added while the solutions ‘might be considered less than ideal compared with the service we have been used to, we have to be supportive and patient in seeing how the Wargrave practice develops some of them’.

Dr James Kennedy, GP and partner at the Wargrave surgery, said: “This is not unique to Wargrave, every GP in the country is feeling the pressure.”

However, GPs in some parts of Berkshire are among the lowest funded in the country, he said, because of how affluent and middle class the area is.

In the last decade, the portion of the NHS budget that is spent on GPs has decreased from 11 per cent to below seven per cent.

Further financial pressures stem from the fact that people are living longer – helped by GPs – with all the ailments that come with that.

Dr Kennedy said: “In a way, we are victims of our own success, but that is the whole point of the game.

“You may not be getting a heart disease at 60, but you may get dementia or need a hip replacement at 90.”

He added many medical students choose not to become GPs due to the workload and financial pressure, which can make it difficult to replace staff.

A practice in Henley suffered a serious problem with its workload after it struggled to find temporary doctors when two members of staff took a leave of absence.

Dr Kennedy said the surgery will work with its patients in Wargrave to find the best ways to deliver care during the tough times ahead.