Curing the NHS with cash
Report faults GP pay contract as 'poor deal' - Telegraph
The report from the National Audit Office called the new GP contract a "poor deal" for taxpayers which has failed to bring the substantial benefits envisaged for patients.
Overall, the new contract cost the Government £1.76 billion more than expected, mainly due to surgeries achieving higher scores than predicted on performance-related pay.
The report comes after a bitter row over extending opening hours from 8am to 8pm and at weekends, which GPs are currently voting on.
Under the new contract, responsibility for out-of-hours care automatically went to primary care trusts and as a result GPs, including part-time doctors, now work an average of 36.3 hours a week.
The report said GP partners are taking more of the practice income home as salary and are seeing fewer patients on average per week, down from 122 in 1992/93 to 88 in 2006/07.
They earned on average £113,000 in 2005/06, but many took home far more.
Good luck to them, I am glad to see the Tories have come up with a radical answer to the problems of the NHS - throw more, much more money at it! An extra £28 billion a year! Hurray, trebles all round, unless you are a patient that is.....
Comments
Most people don't realise that GPs have to fund their entire practice from their salary, which means employing staff etc. However, they still seem to have a healthy portion of their wages left over, don't they!
Posted by: Letters From A Tory | February 28, 2008 8:16 AM