Labour London Assembly Member, Joanne McCartney, visited Highgate Group Practice on World Health Day to see first-hand the services they provide to local residents.
The visit was organised by the Londonwide Local Medical Committees who represent NHS GPs. Ms McCartney met with their CEO, Michelle Drage and local practitioners to discuss discussed the challenges facing primary care today.
They discussed the need to improve co-ordination between different NHS trusts and to provide better transport links to mental health services. Health staff also raised concerns around recruitment and retention.
The challenges form part of a wider strain on local health services in recent years, with general practice threatened by a shortage of GPs. In 2015, GPonline calculated that by 2020, Haringey will need an extra 35 GPs and Enfield will need at least 84 more in order to keep up with demand.
Ms McCartney praised health staff for their hard work and said “their importance in keeping us healthy cannot be understated.”
Labour London Assembly Member for Enfield & Haringey, Joanne McCartney AM, said:
“It was wonderful to mark World Health Day by seeing the hard work that our GPs do for our local community I want to thank Highgate Group Practice for welcoming me.”
“Practitioners form the frontline of our NHS and with the closure of several large A&E departments their importance in keeping us healthy cannot be understated.”
“With the NHS being such a key part of our society, it was good to get a better understanding of the challenges that our GPs face. With a growing population, we must ensure that our health service is able to cope in the years ahead so that London’s GPs are able to continue to provide a good service.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
- For more information on Londonwide LMCs, visit their website: https://www.lmc.org.uk/
- The GPonline figures can be found here: http://www.gponline.com/map-gp-shortages-across-england/article/1334024
- Joanne McCartney is the London Assembly Member for Enfield & Haringey