All practices in the Gloucestershire have agreed to participate in joint action with the British Medical Association.
This is NOT about pay but about General Practice receiving the amount of funding needed to employ enough doctors, nurses, and other staff to provide sufficient appointments and for our staff to work safely.
This joint action across the country is aiming for the government to look at General Practice and reconsider the amount of funding it receives. This is not industrial action; we are not on strike.
The BMA recommend safe working for General Practice to be 25 patient contacts per day per clinician and once at capacity to divert patients to local urgent care.
We are working very hard to ensure as little disruption to our normal service as possible but on occasion we may reach full capacity and patients will be asked to call 111. The decision to take action has not been taken lightly.
Sick children, vulnerable or palliative patients will not be turned away as patient safety is still our priority.
In the meantime, please continue to use our services as normal and rest assured that patient care is still our priority.
We thank you for understanding, we are hopeful that the issues can be resolved quickly.