Patients

Council decided that one of its policies should be to have a closer relationship with patients and their representatives, when the College was restructured in November 1981 this policy came under the remit of the communications division.

"Information to Patients" policy argued for practice information but against advertising by GPs

Care of the Elderly working party

Response to government White Paper “Working for Patients” rejecting its proposals on the grounds that, if implemented, it will seriously damage patient care and the doctor/patient relationship

Publication of Emma's Diary - a handbook for pregnant women

"Listen to Carers"conference, jointly organised by Carers National Association. Key note speech given by HRH The Princess Royal.

Publication of "Partnership with Patients - A Practical Guide to Starting a Patient Participation Group"

Community Participation in Primary Care [Occasional Paper 64]

Patient Care and the General Practitioner report (Welsh Council/Welsh General Medical Services Committee)

Council recommended:    PLG [Patient Liaison Group]members be more regularly invited to join College working parties;    occasional lunches be set up between Council and the PLG;   the lay members of PLG be more proactive in raising with their GP colleagues issues of possible concern;  the College consider ways of giving greater prominence to its PLG and to the idea that ‘patient participation’ requires explicit support;    the PLG to collect good examples of the experiences and outcomes of participation in general practice for publication;  the PLG develop an advice pack for those faculties considering setting up PLGs; the College actively encourage faculties to establish their own PLGs.

Patient Participation Award Founded - first winners Central Surgery - Norfolk

Patient's Liaison Group Study Day "How to Work with Your Doctor" see July 1997

"Guidance on Removal of Patients from GP Lists"published by Patients Liaison Group [revised Sep 2004]

Publication of Goodwill in Practice - the book dealt with issues involved with volunteer schemes

Publication of Breaking Barriers by the Inner City Task Force.

The report focused on the quality of general practice consultations with patients from different black communities, to identify obstacles to effective communication between GP's and their patients, and to begin to set an agenda for change.

Publication of "How to Work With Your Doctor" - this was the result of a joint project between Patients Liaison Group and the Department of Health called "revaluing General practice" - it also led to the production of 8000 patient information leaflets.

RCGP/Royal College of Radiologists Working Party on Follow-up of Cancer Patients  This included representatives from the two Royal Colleges as well as members of each Patient Liaison Group

Council issued a statement on quality in general practice: 

• recognised the need for patients to be confident of the quality of their general practitioner's care
• reaffirmed that continuing membership of the College indicates commitment to encouraging and fostering high standards of general medical practice for patients
• applauded the unanimous decision of the College's Annual General Meeting to add Membership by Assessment of Performance to the College's quality markers
• supported the General Medical Council's decision that all general practitioners must demonstrate on a regular basis that they are keeping themselves up to date and remain fit to practise
• decided that, for those in active clinical practice, membership of the College will be linked increasingly to the explicit demonstration of satisfactory standards of care for patients
• decided to continue its work towards establishing a comprehensive national framework which would allow all general practitioners to demonstrate the quality of their care for patients

Patient Participant and Ethical Considerations in Primary Care Research conference (see April 2001)

 The RCGP and GPC believe that General Practitioners should offer appropriate care to all patients on their lists. Where patients have problems with substance abuse, appropriate care will include aspects of primary care normally provided by the practice health care team, shared care with other services and referral to other appropriate services.

Certain GPs may develop particular expertise in the care of substance abusers, and the number and location of these doctors should, ideally, be sufficient to avoid substantial workload falling onto only a few GPs. In supporting the development of this expertise, the Health Departments must ensure the provision of appropriate training in this field; facilitate professional support; resource the adequate provision for support services including specialist services and appropriate financial additional remuneration for such work.

Patient Participation and Ethical Considerations - research workbook published

Patient Liaison Group renamed Patient Partnership Group

Launch of newsletter on patient safety aimed at primary care staff  entitle "In Safer Hands" a joint publication of the Quality Unit and the National Patient Safety Agency

Joint publication of third version of Guidelines for General Practice Electronic Patient Records [Department of Health, RCGP, GMS] 

RCGP Curriculum Statement 12 Care of People with Cancer & Palliative Care [updated Jan 2006] by Dr Arthur Hibble, Dr Iain Cromarty, Dr Steve Lazar, Dr Simon Downs, Dr Sue Cross, Dr Amada Platts, Dr Keri Thomas, Dr John Ellershaw

The Future of General Practice - policy statement "The future GP, at the heart of a thriving multidisciplinary team, will be a clinician and a medical generalist, with continuing important roles as a gatekeeper, and as an advocate for patients... while many tasks in primary care can be appropriately delegated, the role of the generalist doctor is more important than ever. The more complicated the world becomes, the more the GP will be needed. The challenge for the future is to ensure that organisational change supports the development of practices and the medical generalist. In this way, the current situation of overcrowding in out patient departments and inappropriate use of secondary care can be minimised..."

"Guidance on Removal of Patients from GP Lists" revised guidance published by Patients Partnership Group

"General practitioners have a crucial role to play in promoting health and preventing disease. They provide a link between individual health care and care for the community that includes their patient population. GPs and their primary health care teams play a central role in promoting health for all ages being engaged in child health, adult care and increasing role in addressing the health problems that we are facing with the aging population, comorbidities and increasing stress levels..."

RCGP Curriculum Statement 10.1 Women's Health [updated Feb 2006] by Kay Mohanna

RCGP Curriculum Statement 13 Care of People with Mental Health Problems [updated Jan 2006] by Dr Graham Archard, Dr Les Ashton, Dr Richard Byng, Dr Alan Cohen, Dr Chris Drinkwater, Dr Clare Gerada, Dr Gabriel Ivbijaro, Dr Helen Lester, Dr Huw Lloyd, Dr Chris Manning, Dr Graham Martin, Dr Barbara Nagy, Dr David Shiers, Dr David Smart, Dr Andre Tylee & Dr Pat Wood

Good mental health is important to everybody’s daily functioning and relevant to patients’ ability to be involved in the care provided by General Practitioners. It is hard to define, but is more than the absence of mental illness and includes concepts such as self-efficacy, self worth and empowerment.

"It is one of the greatest privileges of being a general practitioner to be able to practice longitudinal care – caring for patients through a large part of their lives and involving several generations of the same family and their relatives. The general practitioner is put in the position of trust and confidence in the care of the elderly and dying relative. It is therefore important that the general practitioner understands not only the clinical care of this group of patients, but also how that care interacts with family, carers and the multi-disciplinary team...."

• · The general practitioner should be able to communicate clearly, sensitively and effectively with patients and their relatives, and colleagues from a variety of health and social care professions
• · The general practitioner must have a commitment to patient-centred medicine
• · The general practitioner, who lacks a clear understanding of what the consultation is, and how the successful consultation is achieved, will fail his or her patients

RCGP Curriculum Statement 3.2 Patient Safety by Maureen Baker and Christine Johnson

Joint RCGP/RCP response to White Paper‘Our health, our care, our say’

The two Colleges wellcome the intitiatives as a way of more closely matching healthcare services to the needs of patients.  Patients have sent out a clear message during the consultation that they want better co-ordinated health and social care services, delivered closer to home.  These views mirror those of our important and well-established patient/user groups.  As bodies responsible for ensuring high standards of medical care, we will respond to this message, and look forward to working closely with the Department of Health in developing new patterns of care that will enable people to have more control over their health and well-being. .....

Neither College underestimates the practical difficulties involved in the future reconfiguration of services, particularly while the health service faces a financially stringent future.  Delivering care in community settings cannot be seen as a cheap option, and the two Colleges in partnership will work on maintaining the quality of clinical care wherever it is provided.  The implications of the changes for the future of acute hospitals is not clear, particularly the workforce implications, but it is vital that acute hospitals retain a critical mass to maintain their viability and safety during the transitional period.

....The RCGP welcomes the moves to ‘reshape’ the NHS into a more patient centred and primary care focussed system. It also applauds the emphasis on reducing health inequalities. The proposals to bring some of the services currently provided by hospitals into the community is sensible provided that this is done in a supported and structured way making the best use of doctors, both specialists and generalists, working to defined standards and care pathways. ...

Conference Self Care for People with Long Term Conditions  led to call for Patients with long term conditions and minor illnesses to have greater independence and be better equipped to look after themselves if general practice is to work at its most efficient level.

OP87: Talking About My Patient: The Balint Approach in GP Education

The Royal College of GPs’ Ethics Committee recommends that patients should have the right to “opt in” – thereby providing explicit consent - to the sharing of their medical information on the NHS Care Record. However, we do feel that if adequate safeguards can be put in place, in time as the system becomes more secure and patients are more aware that their records will be shared, it may be possible to move to an “opt out” position.

The RCGP acknowledges the value of the shared medical record to help improve patient care and safety

Professor Mayur Lakhani, Chairman of the RCGP said: "I am sorry to hear of the experience of some patients who have received an inaccurate diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. This can be a difficult diagnosis to make - in secondary care as well as primary care.

“We would welcome discussion about improving the diagnosis and management of Parkinson’s disease in the community.

“We agree that more needs to be done and GPs are determined to improve care for patients with Parkinson's disease. 

“GPs are faced with a lack of specialist support and services which will make implementation of these guidelines very difficult – there are long out-patient waiting lists.

“A holistic approach is essential - GPs are in a unique position to improve recognition due to the frequency with which they see their patients. Many patients have multiple co-morbidity and the GP’s role is critical to the diagnosis and management of the condition and co-ordination of care.

“We are therefore disappointed that these guidelines take such a negative view of the role of GPs in the diagnosis and management of Parkinson’s Disease. This will not be welcomed by patients, some of whom already face fragmentation of care.

 “Collaboration with specialists is important and GPs and consultants must work together to improve care. With improved support, dedicated training, and development of roles such as GPwSI, GPs can play a bigger role in improving standards of care for patients with Parkinson’s disease. “

Carers as Partners (Leaflet for GPs); Carers in Practice (Leaflet for carers)