DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
News Release (2008/0053) issued by The Government News Network on 5
May 2008
New GP practices
for under served areas and new proposals for £105 million
investment set out
Health Secretary Alan Johnson today (Monday) underlined the
Government's commitment to improving family doctor services
alongside further plans to tackle long-standing inequalities in GP provision.
Twelve new GP practices will be set up in some of the more poorly
served areas in England. A consultation will also shortly be
launched with the BMA on a proposed £105 million investment in
existing GP practices to further expand clinical services and to
improve access for patients, as well as the implementation of the
Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body annual
recommendations for GP pay.
New GP Practices
The twelve Primary Care Trusts benefitting from a new GP practice
will each receive over £1.1m by 2010/11 as their share of the
£250m access fund announced last autumn, to fund at least 100 new
GP practices in the most deprived areas and 152 GP-led health centres.
Areas with the fewest GPs have poorer general health and greater
deprivation. Some areas only have 43 GPs per 100,000 people
compared to 88 GPs per 100,000 people in areas with the best coverage.
The new practices announced today will increase family doctor
capacity in places that need it most and offer a range of
innovative services such as extended opening hours and extended
practice catchment areas as well as increased choice of GP
practices for patients and reduced pressure on existing GP practices.
The first practices are expected to be open to patients in less
than a year's time. Primary Care Trusts will work with
clinicians and the public to develop patient services that reflect
local needs and then look to potential providers to come forward
with innovative proposals for the new practices.
Consultation on investment in access and clinical services
We will also be consulting on proposals to invest an extra £105
million in family doctor services to improve clinical services and
care to patients, deliver better access and improve the
responsiveness of GP services, and implement the Doctors' and
Dentists' Review Body annual recommendations for GP pay.
The proposals in the consultation will be to invest around £50
million in additional clinical services and to make available
around a further £50 million for Primary Care Trusts to invest
locally in improving access and responsiveness of GP services for
patients - including extended opening hours and improvements to
Surgery premises, or supporting practices that are expanding to
provide increased choice for local patients.
The proposals involve investment in a range of enhanced patient services:
* New measures to tackle heart failure;
* Spreading best practice on osteoporosis treatment;
* Annual health checks for people with severe learning disabilities;
* Better data recording to help improve patient care for people
from black and minority ethnic groups; and
* Increased support to overcome harmful drinking.
Health Secretary Alan Johnson said:
"There has been some recent scaremongering about the future
of GP practices. Today's announcement shows we are not only
committed to Britain's excellent family doctor system, but
also to expanding it, encouraging GPs to provide more services,
closer to where people live, so they don't have to make so
many unnecessary trips to hospital.
"The 152 health centres we are opening in towns and cities
are funded with new money and will sit alongside traditional
general practice as an option for patients who want very easy
evening and weekend access to their GP.
"Improving access to primary care is also a key priority if
we are to deliver more personalised care that meets the needs of
individuals and communities, especially those in more
disadvantaged or deprived areas. Evidence shows there is a direct
link between low numbers of GP surgeries and poor health within a community.
"This is not just about building extra primary care capacity
but developing high-quality, responsive services with a strong
focus on prevention. This is a great opportunity for
entrepreneurial GPs as well as social enterprises, voluntary
organisations and the independent sector to develop innovative
services for patients."
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The full list of Primary Care Trusts (PCT) benefitting from an
additional GP practice is: Rotherham, Enfield, Bury, South
Birmingham, Telford and Wrekin, Newham, Gateshead, Coventry
Teaching, Bristol, North Somerset, Middlesbrough and East Lancashire.
2. The PCTs were identified using a calculation derived from Lord
Darzi's interim report as part of his Next Stage Review of
the NHS.
3. In Lord Darzi's interim report as part of his Next Stage
Review of the NHS, the Department of Health announced at least 100
new GP practices will be targeted in the 38 PCTs with the poorest
GP provision.
4. The Doctors and Dentists Review Body recommendations for
2008/09 saw an increase of 2.7% in payments to GP practices for
providing core services known as the Global Sum. Taking account of
the cost of expenses and the planned impact to correct factor
payments would equate to a 0.2% increase in GP earnings.
5. The broad framework of changes to the GP contract was agreed
between NHS Employers and the GPC of the BMA on 3 April The
changes include the additional 1.5% investment in primary care
(£105 million), extended opening of GP practices, a small number
of changes to the Quality and Outcomes Framework and the
continuation of the IM&T Directed Enhanced Service for a
further year.
6. Last year the Government made it a priority to improve access
to GP services. Following changes recently agreed with the BMA,
the NHS is now working with GPs to give patients the opportunity
to see their family doctor at weekends or in the evening. On
average, GP practices that take up the new arrangements will be
open for an extra three hours each week, at times that reflect the
needs and wishes of their patients.
[ENDS]