Yesterday you may well have seen the headlines announcing that from April onwards, GPs will be “made” to offer patients same day appointments for 'urgent' health issues. The implication, which I cannot imagine Wes Streeting is unaware of, is that he is on the side of patients, whereas recalcitrant & possibly even workshy GPs are the problem. A subtle undercurrent of GP-bashing, in other words, just as in previous governments. The headlines omit a crucial aspect of the new GP contract, which this letter in the Times brilliantly highlights. GPs will no longer be able to refer patients for specialist care as they do currently. New mandated "advice and refer" systems are being introduced for all specialist referrals from general practice, supposedly to 'streamline' care (as though GPs aren't highly trained physicians who know when a referral is needed). As anyone waiting desperately for an appointment with a neurologist, oncologist, rheumatologist or orthopaedic surgeon will already know to their cost, currently waiting times can be absolutely horrendous – and this looks horribly like yet another barrier to patients receiving the prompt care they need from a specialist. Already, for example, I am aware of patients with a new diagnosis of major, life-changing diseases such as multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease or lupus having to wait many heartbreaking months to see a specialist for the first time. That is simply not right. It is a national scandal. If Wes Streeting’s aim is to massage the waiting list figures so that it ‘looks’ as though he’s improving care for NHS patients (while actually keeping patients away from doctors via a tortuous saga of ‘pathway navigators’ and other hoops that only create more delays) this would be an excellent way to do to.