Industrial action could be set to disrupt primary care across North London, NHS bosses have warned after a new report raised key concerns.
At the start of August, GPs announced they were staging collective industrial action for the first time in 60 years, as part of a row over their funding.
A British Medical Association ballot taken by more than 8,500 GPs showed 98.3% were in favour of collective action over a 1.9% increase in government funding for surgeries for 2024/25.
It comes amid the recent resolution of the junior doctor strikes, in which a pay deal with the government, which could see their wages rise by 22.3% over two years, was agreed.
Dr Victoria Jones, North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust’s medical director, gave an update on the local impact of these walkouts during a board meeting on August 8.
She said: “From a junior doctor’s perspective, there’s our credible offer, which has been put to the junior doctors at the moment.
“GPs have voted for action, it’s unclear quite what the impact of this will be at the moment, it’s continuous action.
“There’s a suite of options to choose from and GP partners can start and stop each of those actions as they see fit.”
Dr Jones added the NHS trust would be meeting with GP federations in Haringey and Enfield to “better understand these potential plans and to consider appropriate mitigations”.
“So far we haven’t really seen any impact, the action started on 1st August but we’ll keep monitoring the situation,” she said.
Dr Jones added that the number of face-to-face contacts GPs carried out per day, and the operation of urgent care centres, were likely to be impacted.
Mark Lam, chair of both North Mid and Royal Free London NHS trusts, said: “This is critical, more than many other regions in the country, our dependency on interface with primary care is critical to our emergency department performance.
“We need to make that clear in terms of our formal stance. We appreciate where colleagues are, it’s not a comment on their action.
“What we cannot have is a collapse in emergency department performance in this part of London, where we might struggle to keep patients safe.”
Local NHS heads have also declared an ‘amber alert’ on blood supplies.
In a report published by the North Mid trust board, concerns were raised over a shortage of blood donations. An amber alert occurs where there is a “significant risk” to the supply of blood that will affect clinical care.
The report, presented during the meeting, stated: “At present, there is an amber alert on blood supplies with the need for us all to donate as much as possible.”
Plans to secure a “local venue” are in the works, so staff and residents can donate “regularly”.
The ‘Infected Blood Inquiry’ report, which was published in May, was referenced in a bid to direct attention to the “incredible improvements to bloody safety that have ensued since that original time”.
The inquiry was established by the government to examine the circumstances in which people treated by the NHS were given contaminated blood between the 1970s and early 1990s.
Over 3,000 people died as a result, and thousands live with ongoing health conditions, with many victims and their families still seeking compensation.
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