Press Statement

Date published: 22/11/2019

The motion below has been debated at the Local Medical Committee England Conference on 22nd November 2019 and has been passed:

That conference believes that GPs no longer have the capacity to offer home visits and instructs GPC England to:

i. Remove anachronism of home visits from core contract work

ii. Negotiate a separate acute service for urgent visits

iii. Demand any change in service is widely advertised to patients

This motion is not intended to remove the ability of GPs to perform home visits. More complex, vulnerable and palliative patients are best served by their GP visiting them when needed. In Kent we have pockets of home visiting services where members of the multi disciplinary team such as paramedic and nurse practitioners attend to patients at home. Currently there is no universal consistency for patients. Increasing demand and falling GP numbers are further compounding pressures in general practice, September 2019 saw 26,400,000 appointments take place in general practice, a rise of 9.7% when compared to September 2018. The NHS is in a cycle of transformation. Kent LMC are asking for a home visiting service that is properly resourced and delivered to our patients.