GPs to be paid to keep you out of hospital - have your say

The government plans to prevent unnecessary hospital appointments from clogging up the NHS hospital waiting list by paying GPs to seek advice from hospital specialists themselves. The move is expected to prevent two million patients from having to attend hospitals by next year. Have your say! What has been your most recent experience getting an appointment at the hospital? Could GPs take on more responsibilities than they do now? Comment below, and join in on the conversation .

The "Advice and Guidance" scheme already exists in parts of the country, but it will rolled out to all practices. GPs can get advice from hospital doctors over the phone or online, and take action based on the results, reducing the amount of people required to attend an hospital for their appointment. Health minister Karin Smyth said: "By caring for patients closer to home, we save time and stop masses of people having to head to hospital for unnecessary appointments in the first place.



We are rewiring the NHS so that we are doing things differently, more efficiently and delivering better outcomes for patients.” GPs making requests using the new system, instead of referring a patient to the hospital, will be able to claim a small payment each time. There are 7.

5 million appointments for hospital care on the waiting list, reports the Mirror - three times as many as there were in 2010. Professor Sir Sam Everington, who has been a GP in Tower Hamlets, east London, since 1989, added: "In my experience over two-thirds of patients with kidney disease can be managed in this way with advice from a consultant and treatment by the GP, removing the enormous stress and uncertainty of waiting a long time. "Advice and guidance enables patients and GPs to get advice direct from a specialist, typically within a week for routine cases.

This means that patients get their health problems sorted rapidly, preventing health deterioration and avoiding long waits to be seen.” Sharon Brennan, director at patient campaign group National Voices, said: “If genuine shared decision-making sits at the centre of the advice and guidance service it has the potential to ensure, where appropriate, patients receive the most suitable care closer to home without having to anxiously sit on consultant waiting lists. "To make sure patients develop trust in this new service, we must see real choice offered to patients about what best treatment routes are, and strong communication about what the service is and what it means in practical terms for patient care.

” Have your say! What has been your most recent experience getting an appointment at the hospital? Could GPs take on more responsibilities than they do now? Comment below, and join in on the conversation ..