Helping to rural proof Health Policy and supporting the Rural Fair Share

Composed of College members, it is an active group that represents rural issues across all four countries. Its remit includes promoting high quality patient care in rural areas, and it encourages the engagement of Members/Fellows working in rural areas with the wider RCGP. It also acts as a network for GPs in rural areas and supports their professional development. This report was compiled taking into account the views expressed by experts in rural primary care with supporting evidence from grass root rural GPs. The RF has approximately 800 members with about 560 engaged with the RF Google electronic discussion group. The evidence was collected in response to a call for members to raise issues of concern in rural general practice. In particular we were interested in identifying threats to the provision of a quality service for patients. Key extracts of emailed responses are shown unattributed in appendix 1. The issues raised are relevant to all 4 nations and follow common themes even though there may be specific contractual contexts. We believe that the provision of high quality care in rural areas needs to reflect the wider sustainability agenda and take account of the environmental impact of requiring patients to travel to larger more distant practices. This report was produced by the Rural Forum of the Royal College of GPs and ha