Contract crackdown on hospitals wasting millions of GP appointments

[Northerner]

GP leaders have welcomed an update to the standard NHS contract that aims to crack down on hospitals dumping work on practices and save millions of appointments a year.

Changes to the contract introduced from 1 April aim to prevent hospitals transferring responsibility for providing fit notes, medication or answering patient queries to GP practices.

The update follows changes last year that bar hospitals from forcing GPs to re-refer patients who miss appointments, aim to make hospitals communicate test results directly to patients and mean patients can be referred on to other departments within a hospital rather than having to go back to their GP.

The BMA has produced template letters to help practices challenge work transferred to them unfairly, and to report contract breaches by hospitals to their local CCG.

http://www.gponline.com/contract-cr...ting-millions-gp-appointments/article/1430916

 

[trophywench]

Just had a look at the 'medication' one.

If you are issued with anything that an adequate supply of is required - which you'd then have to go to your GP to get more of, to last the time you are supposed to use it, the hospital should supply 'the normal duration' of it, not just give you enough for a day and tell you to get it off your GP for the rest of the week/fortnight/month.

Interesting - how does this affect test strips for new meters, then? 10 strips (ie the amount you always get with any new meter) is nowhere near enough to last you, until you can get it added to your repeat prescriptions !