General practices nationally are at breaking point. The current crisis in general practice predates covid-19, but has been intensely magnified by the pandemic. Primary care is rightly called the “Bedrock of the NHS” dealing with around 90% of patient contacts for under 10% of the national budget. GPs are seen as the “gatekeepers” to the NHS providing over 300 million patient consultations each year, compared to 23 million emergency department visits. If general practice fails, the entire NHS will collapse. When patients struggle to see their GP, work spills into unscheduled care settings including the emergency department, leading to inappropriate attendance and use of hospital services. Despite all this, more and more work is being transferred to primary care without the associated funding or resources…more