RCGP welcomes NHS England’s move away from rigid A&G target

Professor Victoria Tzortziou Brown, Chair of the Royal College of GPs:

“We are pleased that NHS England has listened to the concerns of GPs - raised by the College and others - and has clarified that they will not introduce a target of 25% of referrals to be diverted from hospital care or rejected through advice and guidance, and crucially, that each referral will be reviewed by a specialist consultant. Doing so would have undermined clinical decision-making and risked increasing workload in general practice at a time when GPs and our teams are already working under significant pressures, as well as creating barriers to appropriate and timely patient care. 

"The College recognises A&G can be beneficial when implemented appropriately, so an approach that supports clinical judgement and keeps patients’ individual needs at its centre is encouraging. We support the aim of improving patients’ access to specialist advice at a time of significant pressures across the NHS system, but this must be properly resourced and not shift additional burden onto general practice.

"As these plans are taken forward, it will be crucial to ensure timely specialist responses, genuinely integrated systems, and the continued protection of patient choice and clinical autonomy. This approach must also be subject to ongoing evaluation to ensure it is delivering in patients’ best interests, including careful monitoring of its impact on waiting times and health inequalities, and that it does not give rise to unintended consequences across the health service.”

This statement was updated on 24 April to clarify that that the proposed target was around diversion and rejection of referrals, not making referrals.

Further information

RCGP press office: 0203 188 7659

press@rcgp.org.uk

Notes to editors

The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 54,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education, training, research and clinical standards.