First private contractors to provide GP services
pharmafile | May 30, 2006 | News story | |
Care UK has signed a contract to provide GP services in Barking and Dagenham, making it the first private company to take on provision of NHS primary care.
The Department of Health says the deal will help boost availability of community health services in the area, one of many around the country suffering from a long-term shortage of GPs.
Expected to open in July, the company's Broad Street GP practice in Dagenham will serve around 7,000 patients. A walk-in centre on the same site will deal with around 100 patients a day.
Three GPs and seven nurse practitioners will work at the centre, which will operate on extended opening hours, including evening and Saturday morning surgeries, while the walk-in centre will open seven days a week.
Health Minister Lord Warner said: "We are determined to tackle persistent and particular problems in deprived areas, which have been under-served for too long. Contracts such as the one in Barking and Dagenham will improve GP access for thousands of people living in places with the poorest cover."
There has been considerable resistance to the move from healthcare unions such as Unison and some health care professionals, who fear the introduction of competition could destabilise primary care as it has with secondary care.
But the government says competition will lead to better services for patients in under-doctored locations, which are usually also deprived areas. The government had first called this process contestability, but ministers are now openly proclaiming the benefits of competition.
"We made it quite clear that where NHS patients could not rely on existing GP practices to provide them with a good standard of service, we would turn to new providers," added Lord Warner.
This new competition can only be good news for NHS patients as it will deliver a wider range of services open at more convenient times.
Paul Sinden, Director of Commissioning for Barking and Dagenham PCT said: "Barking and Dagenham is recognised as an under-doctored area, with a high need for primary and community-based services. This new model at Broad Street will provide both additional access to GPs and extended primary care through the walk-in-centre. From April 2007, the centre at Broad Street will provide a one-stop-shop for patients through access to a greater range of diagnostic services."
Mike Parish, chief executive of Care UK said: "This groundbreaking project demonstrates how the independent sector can assist PCTs in improving access to vital primary care services. By integrating a GP practice and an unscheduled care centre on one site, we will be providing the local community with much-needed services.
"Care UK brings a wealth of experience in operating community-based health and social care services to the project, including the provision of innovative, patient-focused primary care services to a number of PCTs throughout the UK."
The government says similar contracts ,which will see independent and voluntary providers challenge the existing monopoly of independent GPs, are close to agreement in five other areas in need, including Hackney, Liverpool, Lancashire, Plymouth and Yorkshire.
The contracts include plans for new breakfast and tea-time surgeries, with practices open as early as 7am and as late as 10pm; direct access to medical tests and local care for diabetes, asthma and arthritis in a community setting; and, nurse and GP visitors for nursing and residential home patients.
The governments white paper, "Our health, our care, our say", includes a pledge to help PCTs in under-doctored areas fill gaps in services, with further waves of the scheme to be announced shortly.
