Tweet
divdiv class=story-body readability=33 span class=story-date#13; span class=date14 November 2013/span#13;span class=time-textLast updated at /spanspan class=time20:28 ET/span#13; #13;/span#13;#13; #13;#13;#13; #13; #13; span class=byline span class=byline-nameBy Nick Triggle/span span class=byline-titleHealth correspondent, BBC News/span /span #13; #13; p class=introduction id=story_continues_1The 100,000 most frail patients in England will be identified and given a named GP to co-ordinate their care./p#13; pThe move has been agreed by the British Medical Association and NHS England in talks over next year's GP contract./p#13; pMinisters had been pushing for doctors to take greater responsibility for the most vulnerable patients in society to relieve pressure on hospitals./p#13; pAn analysis by NHS England showed many of the winter pressures on Aamp;E came from frail elderly patients./p#13; pContrary to common perception, it found that summer was the busiest time for Aamp;E units in terms of numbers, but winter was when the difficulties arose because of the rise in the numbers of elderly patients needing care./p#13; pA third of emergency admissions are among the over-75s - many of which could be avoided if they received earlier and better care in the community./p#13; pThis is where the agreement with GPs - which will kick in next April - will help, ministers say./p#13; span class=cross-head'Old-fashioned family doctor'/span#13; pUnder the terms of the deal, doctors have agreed to carry out a trawl of their registers to identify the frailest 2% of patients./p#13; pThis is likely to include people at the end of life, in care homes and those who are frequently in and out of hospital./p#13; pThey will then take responsibility for overseeing their care across the NHS and social care sectors./p#13; div class=story-feature narrow#13; a class=hidden href=#story_continues_2Continue reading the main story/a h2 class=quote“spanStart Quote/span/h2#13;blockquote readability=1p class=first-childThis will free up GPs to spend more time focusing on treating patients”/p/blockquote#13;span class=endquoteEnd Quote/span#13; span class=quote-creditDr Chaand Nagpaul/span#13; span class=quote-credit-titleBritish Medical Associaton/span#13;#13; /div p id=story_continues_2The aim is to create a much more proactive services whereby their needs - from home adaptations to intensive nursing support - are met much more quickly./p#13; pThey will also need to offer these patients same-day telephone consultations as well as checking up on them after discharge from hospital./p#13; pThis contrasts with what the government and doctors' leaders agree is the more reactive service many patients are currently getting./p#13; pA further four million people over the age of 75 will be given a named GP - at the moment patients are registered to a practice rather than individual doctor. It is hoped this will lead to greater continuity of care for those patients who visit GPs the most./p#13; pHealth Secretary Jeremy Hunt hailed as the return of the old-fashioned family doctor./p#13; pWe are bringing back the named GPs for the vulnerable elderly. This means proper family doctors able to focus on giving elderly people the care they need and prevent unnecessary trips to hospital./p#13; pIn return, doctors have been freed from what they considered some of the most burdensome aspects of the form-filling they had to do for their performance-related pay./p#13; pLabour's Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham said that the move would not hide the fact that David Cameron has made it harder to get a GP appointment./p#13; pDavid Cameron cut Labour's scheme of evening and weekend opening and the guarantee of seeing a doctor within 48 hours, Mr Burnham added./p#13; pThis announcement will not put an end to patients phoning the surgery at 9am and finding it impossible to get an appointment - many of whom, not happy with a phone consultation, will still turn to Aamp;E./p#13; pPeople will fail to see how this package delivers the public commitment David Cameron gave last month to keep GP surgeries open from 8am to 8pm./p#13; pBritish Medical Association GP leader Dr Chaand Nagpaul said the latest changes to the contract - imposed on them last year - had resulted in the introduction of unnecessary targets and excessive paperwork./p#13; pThis will free up GPs to spend more time focusing on treating patients./p#13; div class=comment-introduction readability=-49#13; p class=introductionAre you a GP or health worker? Are you a patient in the affected age group? Send us your comments and experiences using the form below./p#13; #13;/div#13; #13; #13; #13; #13; /div/divbrbrcentera href=http://www.wizardrss.comPowered By WizardRSS.com/a | a href=http://www.wizardrss.comFull Text RSS Feed/a | a href=http://www.amazon.com/RFID-Blocking-Cards-Identity-Protector/dp/B00CJHZLEWRFID/a | a href=http://www.wpzonbuilder.comAmazon Affiliate/a/center