The impact of industrial action by GPs will not be as tangible, or as clearcut, as that of strikes by junior doctors. Hospital data is collected centrally, so that any increase in waiting lists or cancellations is quickly known. Information from primary care is not collated in the same way. But there is no doubt that capping appointments at 25 per day – as some GPs will do following this week’s vote – will mean a reduction in access to healthcare. With the NHS already under huge pressure, people who rely on their GPs for support will be justifiably anxious.
Yet GPs, who between them provided more than 25 million appointments in England in December (figures for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are gathered separately), clearly feel they have no choice but to try to force ministers’ hands. This is not about pay, as the junior doctors’ dispute was. The GPs’ complaint is that the overall resources allocated by the previous government to primary care are insufficient. More than 98% of the 8,500 family doctors who took part in the ballot voted in favour, on the grounds that this year’s 1.9% budget increase is not enough.
