Dagenham And Rainham MP Welcomes Agreement Between GP’s And Government That Will See Return Of Family Doctor.

The Labour Member of Parliament for Dagenham and Rainham, Margaret Mullane, has welcomed a landmark agreement between the Government and GPs to ‘fix the front door of the NHS’ – and see the return of the family doctor, while helping end the 8am scramble for appointments.

The new deal for GPs will:

• Slash red tape and cut box ticking targets to free up GPs. 

• Take the first steps towards bringing back the family doctor and ending the 8am scramble for appointments. 

• Be the first agreement with the BMA on GP contracts for four years, resetting relations after recent collective action that has blighted the health service. 

 The new agreed contract will modernise general practice by requiring GP surgeries to allow patients to request appointments online throughout working hours from October, freeing up the phones for those who need them most and making it easier for practices to triage patients based on medical need. 

The reforms will support GPs in taking the first steps to end the 8am scramble for appointments, which so many patients currently endure every day, improving access to GPs for everyone. The deal for family doctors is backed by the biggest funding boost for General Practice in years, reversing the decade-long cuts to general practice funding as a share of the NHS budget. 

The news follows the Labour Government confirming it has delivered the extra 2 million NHS appointments promised seven months early. 

Margaret told the Havering Daily: “I hear time and again from local residents how fed up they are with the 8am rush for appointments and having to see a different GP each appointment. That’s why I made fixing the front door of the NHS a key campaigning priority since being elected. 

I am delighted that the Labour Government has stuck to its word and struck a new deal with GPs, allowingthem to spend less time form-filling and more time delivering appointments for local residents.” 

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