Two Carlton GPs have sent a heartfelt letter to patients apologising for being unable to prevent unnecessary suffering due to NHS cuts.

Dr Ian Campbell, MBE and Dr Claire Hatton of Jubilee Park Medical Partnership wrote to their patients following the British Medical Association’s report explaining unavoidable increased delays across the NHS.

The letter acknowledges the harsh reality that they can no longer deliver the same service, with routine appointments taking up to four weeks now compared to two to three days five years ago.

Dr Campbell said: “It is really difficult to get access to the NHS, we know that. We wish it was different but actually it upsets us too.”

The letter, dated December 1, reads: ‘Within our practice and more widely, we have numerous examples of patients experiencing unnecessary dangerous delays to treatment.’

These delays are leading to greatly increased death rates.

The Nottingham based GP’s acknowledge how dangerous the situation is and understand the frustration it is causing.

Dr Campbell added: “The situation is getting worse, not better. It will continue to get worse into the winter and next year.”

The pair explain that due to irritation ‘our staff are subject to ever increasing daily abuse and aggression from patients’ which causes high numbers of NHS workers suffering with mental health issues.

There is difficulty in retaining staff due to the pressures they face with the NHS as a whole missing 130,000 staff members.

Dr Campbell explained that more investment is needed to recruit more staff so that more efficient and greater care can be given.

Their writing ends with a promise: ‘We will continue to do our best and strive to make things better: to see you sooner and try to deliver an even higher standard of care with the scarce resources with which we operate.’

The partnership have received comments from people that they were moved by the letter emphasising that these issues do resonate with many.

The GP letter in full

To all our patients of the Jubilee Park Medical Practice,

When we qualified as doctors we solemnly swore the Hippocratic Oath, to do our best for our patients, and especially that we would do no harm.

Today we are deeply saddened to inform you that, through no fault of our own, the austerity policies of recent years (which have led to severe financial cut-backs, reduced services and delayed treatment across the NHS) are causing our patients harm, causing unnecessary suffering and leading to many dying earlier than they should.

Four years ago, both of our practices at Jubilee Park Medical Practice did well when inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the NHS standards watchdog, both receiving certification of good quality practice. The harsh reality however is that we are now no longer able to deliver that same standard of service for our patients.

Across the country the NHS is on its knees, and it has become impossible to deliver a service that does no harm.

We understand the utter frustration and despair that you, on the receiving end of these cutbacks, feel. Waiting times for GP appointments are excessively long, telephone lines have never-ending waits, and access to hospital services, with more than 7 million people on waiting lists for treatment, is becoming almost impossible.

None of us works in the NHS for fame and fortune. We do it because we believe in what it is supposed to deliver: high quality, safe, healthcare for everyone, free at the point of delivery, regardless of ability pay.

As the former President of the British Medical Association and Director of the UCL Institute of Heath Equity, Professor Sir Michael Marmot, has evidenced repeatedly: in a rich country such as the UK there is no excuse for not being able to afford the NHS – our health, after all, is a human right.

If, however, we do not fund preventing ill health, of course the NHS is going to be faced with an overwhelming demand. Prevention is better than cure. But there has been a lack of political will since 2010 to address the social causes of ill health.

So what has gone so badly wrong?

During the years of significant financial investment in the NHS, with unprecedented investment in new buildings, new services, and strict standards for all NHS bodies to achieve, working as a GP in Nottingham brought great pride in the service we could offer all our patients.

But that has changed.

Almost three years ago the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic struck and the NHS began to face its greatest ever challenge. GP practices and hospital staff were celebrated for their resilience and commitment, receiving public applause each Thursday evening. Remember that? But now, instead of weekly applause, our staff are subject to ever increasing and daily abuse and aggression from patients and family members, understandably frustrated by delays to access treatment.

I have never known so many NHS staff to suffer from mental and physical ill health, the effects of years of severe stress. Staff absences are at a record high: 60,000 nursing jobs are currently unfilled; we have vacancies for 7,000 GPs and the NHS as a whole is missing 130,000 staff. Add to this the now unprecedented huge demand for NHS care from millions of patients and it’s not difficult to see why patients are increasingly subjected to a severe lack of access to healthcare.

But it’s not just frustration that results. With seven million people currently on hospital waiting lists for treatment, Accident and Emergency departments bursting at the seams, and 999 ambulances failing to get patients to hospital quickly enough, the facts are clear.

Patients are dying. Within our practice and more widely, we have numerous examples of patients experiencing unnecessary dangerous delays to treatment and current data shows that delays to cancer treatments, as just one example, is leading to greatly increased death rates.

All this could, and should, have been avoided.

Years of financial restraint before COVID-19 meant that the NHS was unprepared and unable to cope. We need massively increased NHS funding, to improve services, attract new staff, reduce waiting times and make sure that we can begin again to deliver a first-class health service fit for the future.

And until then, we at Jubilee Park Medical Practice promise you this. We will continue to do our best and strive to make things better: to see you sooner and try to deliver an even higher standard of care with the scarce resources with which we operate.

We thank you for your understanding, patience, and support as we endeavour to continue the campaign to protect our NHS.

Dr Ian Campbell, MBE

Dr Claire Hatton

Jubilee Park Medical Partnership