GPs wanting to provide more personalised care and enjoy a better quality of life should move to Wales, says Dr Tony Calland, chairman of the Welsh Council of the BMA.
Writing in GP’s ‘Your Practice 2010’ series, Dr Calland paints a picture of rural tranquillity combined with vastly superior working conditions to GPs in neighbouring England.
His vision of the future sees English practices taken over by large private companies, while GPs in Wales retain more personalised care for their patients.
Writing as if from 2010, he says: ‘PCTs in England failed as commissioners, did not support or invest in traditional primary care and were replaced by private health organisations.
‘Patients in England have a supermarket-type service that is at the cost of continuity, stability and professional satisfaction.’
He compares this to practices in Wales, which ‘treat patients holistically in a small practice settings and develop a strong relationship with a stable population’.
To enable practices to stay small he says they will establish consortia that share certain tasks.
Referring to a hypothetical practice, he says: ‘The medical group Dr Green’s practice is a member of works as a consortium, sharing clinical governance and continuing professional development.
‘Although each practice maintains its own individuality, the wider confederation means more support from colleagues.’
He added there will be more opportunities to work as a GPSI in Wales, working in areas such as dermatology and rheumatology.
‘GPs who want to enjoy these benefits should go west,’ he said.
