So you thought the government's relationship with GPs couldn't get any worse?
And
then along comes health minister Ben Bradshaw with his accusation that
practices are operating ‘gentlemen's agreements' by promising not to
accept other doctors' patients.
Effectively Bradshaw is arguing that GPs are blocking the government's choice agenda for the NHS in England.
While
the GPC argues that gentlemen's agreements are ‘absolute nonsense', I
can't help wondering whether this is all just a smokescreen.
What the government is actually trying to do is to phase out MPIG, vital to 90 per cent of practices.
MPIG is worth £580 million, 7.5 per cent of the general practice budget.
While the GPC has agreed that it is willing to look at funding, what is most important now is that the government plays fair.
The
MPIG was a fudge drawn up by both the DoH and the GPC because so many
practices had lower global sums than their income under the original
new GMS contract in 2003.
Accusing
practices of operating ‘gentlemen's agreements' to block choice takes
attention from the MPIG, which could be perceived as a government
mistake.
What will its phase out mean for practice finances and the teams that are employed within them?
What
practices need now is a government that will play fair over
negotiations about how MPIG will be phased out, over what period and
what will replace it.
What chance is there of a ‘gentlemen's agreement' guaranteeing this from Ben Bradshaw and co?
neil.durham@haymarket.com