GPs urged to be good social care partners

The Department of Health needs to put pressure on GPs to engage with social care in promoting wellbeing, care services minister Ivan Lewis told the conference.

Answering a question on GPs lack of engagement with social care, Lewis said the development of practice based commissioning, under which GPs are given virtual budgets to purchase services, made good relationships vital.

He said: “The health side of the Department of Health needs to be a bit more strident with their primary care colleagues about what it’s like to be a partner.”

Lewis said he wanted to set up a national body that brought together GPs, primary and community health professionals and social care practitioners, to forge better relationships.