GPs get commissioning cold feet

Released 06/07/2010

Senior GP group withdraws support of DH plans

A group of worried GPs have decided to no longer support the Government's new GP-led commissioning plan, for fear that practices held financially accountable could flounder, Pulse reports.

The Government has revealed plans for GPs to accept a share of the financial risk of commissioning, following concerns there were not enough measures in place to prevent GPs overspending.

Health secretary Andrew Lansley announced last week that GP commissioning groups would be held accountable via the new NHS Board for cutting "mortality amenable to healthcare" and premature death rates from long-term illnesses.

However, the NHS Alliance, an advocate of GP-led commissioning, told Pulse it now believed the Department of Health's plans were "too radical and risky" for most practices, demanding a pilot before being rolled out.
Lansley is currently consulting with GPs over the GP-led commissioning framework and is due release a white paper revealing his plans imminently.

NHS Alliance chair Dr Michael Dixon, who has been advising the DH, felt it was over-ambitious to expect GP groupings to take over commissioning within two years, and that only around five per cent were ready.

Dr Dixon told Pulse: "There is a fear among many GPs that in order to accommodate frontrunners they will have to take on a whole level of accountability they don't want. They feel it's a bridge too far."

"There is a strong argument that the few practices who are ready should go ahead in pilots. If they come unstuck it wouldn't be much of a disaster and they would of course be audited carefully."

Source: Pulse

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