Urgent motion added 5.10.23

The Leader of the Conservative Group, Councillor Lloyd Bowen, proposed the motion as set out on the Agenda. He referred to comments made by the public in respect of GP salaries, in the newspaper report on the motion online, which were factually incorrect. The Leader of the Conservative Group said GPs had a huge responsibility, earned low salaries and there was little incentive to become a GP. He spoke of the wellbeing of GPs, the GP shortage and recruitment difficulties.  The Leader of the Conservative Group referred to the quality of care and access to services and how the increased cost of housing, particularly in the south east, precluded GP’s from living in the area. He said funded solutions needed to be sought and the motion had brought all Group Leaders together.

In seconding the motion, the Leader gave an example of the unbalanced ratio of patients to GPs in his ward and said GPs were stretched to the limit.  He highlighted the excessive hours worked by GPs for poor pay and said that GP's were not valued in this country, resulting in some looking to emigrate.

The Leader of the Swale Independent Alliance referred to Central Government’s high housing targets and its nonsensical approach of Councils having to prove GP’s were needed to challenge targets. He said Central Government should ensure the necessary infrastructure was in place when setting targets. The Leader of the Swale Independent Alliance said GP services were critical and had to be provided at the rate people needed. He spoke of the cross party support for the motion.  All Group Leaders had given their strong support for the motion.

In the debate that followed, Members raised points including:

·         Pleased to support the motion and supported collaborative working;

·         initiatives such as key worker housing brought in by Government would take time to work and action was needed now;

·         providing affordable housing for GPs to live and work in the area was vital;

·         the internal housing market was impacting availability of GP premises;

·         the struggles faced by GPs and the NHS was devastating to watch;

·         housing development added to the issue, suggested taking Legal advice to consider a planning condition to ensure manageable GP ratio was in place before development;

·         letter should be sent to both Integrated Care Partnerships (ICP) and Integrated Care Board (ICB);

·         highlighted the lack of space to accommodate GP’s and the ICB’s Estates review of Community Services carried out which stated that Swale did not need more space;

·         referred to the lack of other options if unable to book a GP appointment;

·         lack of GPs had an impact on hospital services and raised concern over the poor care many residents had received at Medway Maritime Hospital;

·         gave an example of a successful project out of the borough to recruit and house newly-qualified GPs that could be considered in Swale; and

·         spoke about the impact that poor housing and relocating due to high rent cost had on health.

Councillor Alistair Gould spoke passionately about the issues facing GP’s.  He said there was a ten year difference in life expectancy in residents in low and high areas of deprivation, highlighting that affluent areas were more attractive to GPs and often had less issues relating to drug use or mental health. In addition, patients could choose their practice and it was difficult to compete against practices with patients requiring less complex support. He said that there was an inequitable outsource of the service, and the ICB needed to be much more proactive in supporting struggling practices and find out what pressures they were under.  Councillor Gould spoke of the impact on neighbouring practices if a surgery folded and drew attention that Section 106 funding only provided 66% of a premises cost, the remainder to be funded by GPs themselves.  He said that any system that was based on competition would create losers and winners, and a more holistic approach was required from the ICP because when a practice struggled, their patients were at risk of a poorer service.

The proposer of the motion, Councillor Bowen, thanked Members for their comments. He agreed that the letter should include reference to deprivation. Referring to the comments made around poor care at Medway Maritime Hospital, Councillor Bowen said that staff morale was very low, and this could impact patient safety. He asked the Leader that any response to the motion should be shared, and a similar letter to be sent to the Shadow Secretary of State for Health.

The motion was then put to the vote and there was unanimous support.

Resolved:

(1)  That Council agrees that the Leader write to the Secretary of State for Health (cc’d to Swale MP’s) asking him to work with the Council to provide innovative, funded solutions to encourage more GP’s to locate in Swale. This could include financial assistance give to the council/GP to assist with housing for a fixed period.