Covid: Welsh Government U-turn on 'important' GP call target

Family doctors feared targets on answering calls could have hit them financially

Introducing a target for doctors' surgeries to answer 90% of phone calls within two minutes has been delayed.

Last month the Welsh Government insisted the move was "more important than ever" during the Covid pandemic.

Family doctors risked losing thousands of pounds in bonus payments if they failed to hit the call goal.

Doctors' leaders opposed the move and the government said it had agreed not to implement the measure for now.

It followed a meeting between officials and BMA Cymru last week .

The doctors' professional body said it was "pleased" the target had been "rolled over for another year due to concerns raised about the impact of the pandemic".

Dr Phil White, chair of its GPs' committee, added: "Given the unprecedented pressures on general practice and the wider NHS - including delivering the largest vaccination campaign in history - now is not the time to introduce major contractual changes.

"What's needed is stability, reassurance and support, allowing GPs and their teams to continue to support their local communities.

Dr Phil White from BMA Cymru said discussions on changes to GP contracts will continue

"We are therefore glad to have secured agreement with the Welsh Government to hold off on any significant changes or requirements from April, while continuing to support practices and their patients through the most challenging period of the pandemic so far.

"We will continue discussions with the Welsh Government in the months to come, ensuring any changes later in the year deliver the best for general practice and their patients - as we try to rebuild and restore services after the pandemic."

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Why were the targets introduced?

The targets were brought in under the Welsh Quality Assurance and Improvement Framework's Access to In-Hours GMS Services Standards.

The report identified issues that many patients had getting access to their GP across Wales and set targets for surgeries to improve.

Among the goals published in March last year was that "90% of calls are answered within two minutes of the recorded message ending".

The report had eight standards spread across two categories. Reaching all eight would give a surgery 100 points plus 25 bonus points - earning it a financial reward from the Welsh Government.

But failure to achieve one would see the bonus lost and the total drop about £8,000 for an average Welsh surgery, one GP told BBC Wales.

What do the changes effectively mean?

BMA Cymru said that the changes will mean many GPs do not lose out on funding.

It said that if a practice met the target in the year ending March 2020, it would be "paid for this year at the March 2020 level of achievement".

When the concerns were initially reported by BBC Wales last month, Welsh Government said it had provided surgeries with £3.7m in 2019-20 "to invest in new digital telephony systems to improve services for their patients".

They added a further £7.5m of funding was allocated in June 2020 for practices achieving the In Hours Access Standards.

One GP told BBC Wales the targets were "unachievable"

"This investment has been crucial during the pandemic to help practices provide services over the telephone and on video platforms," they continued.

"Due to coronavirus, it is now more important than ever that patients calling their GP practice have their calls answered in a timely manner to receive urgent care and advice."

But officials said the position had now changed.

A Welsh Government spokesman said: "We continue to work closely with the BMA to monitor and assess the support needed to enable practices to deliver the Covid-19 vaccination programme and meet people's health needs.

"After consultation, we have agreed not to monitor the access standard, which requires telephone calls to be answered within two minutes.

"Practices will not be penalised for not meeting this standard while they handle high volumes of calls from people with queries about the vaccination process."