NON Contracted Work in general practice

GP Workload: Core & non-core work

The responsibility of secondary care services and should not be asked of general practice:

• Being asked to re-refer for endoscopy, echocardiogram etc
• Fit notes following operations/hospital stays
• Phlebotomy requested by secondary care
• PSA follow up from secondary care
• Onward referral requests from secondary care

GP-Workload-core-and-non-core

Identifying services that should not be provided by GPs as primary medical services

GPs must not be forced to accept clinical responsibility for patients in secondary care institutions nor for those in any setting where the clinical needs of the patient fall outside the normal skills of GPs.
On several occasions over a number of years, the GPC has been made aware of GPs being asked to provide services to patients residing in institutions or homes where the types of services expected do not fall under the responsibility of primary care. There appears to have been an increase in the number of such cases recently, seemingly in part due to an increase in the number of privately-run secondary care institutions. This is not in patients’ best interests as it results in confusion and lack of clarity over who is clinically responsible for patients’ care, as well as a risk to patient safety.

Identifying services that should not be provided by GPs – June 2012