Income guarantee to salvage new GP contract
pharmafile | October 28, 2003 | News story | |Â Â Â
Plans to offer GP practices a guaranteed minimum income have been launched to rescue the new general practice contract.
The proposals were plunged into crisis when some GPs discovered their income could drop under the new contract, with a ballot on the package having to be postponed to address doctors' concerns.
The BMA and the NHS Confederation have now put together the 'minimum practice income guarantee' to rescue the deal from collapsing altogether.
The contract is central to the Government's plans for reforming the NHS, and explicitly links for the first time GP income to the number and quality of services they provide.
The BMA has written to the UK's 43,000 GPs to explain how the new system works, but will face greater scepticism after the discovery of the miscalculation last month.
The letter states: "We can now guarantee that no practice will lose out if the new contract is accepted, provided it delivers a minimum level of quality".
The BMA has also committed itself to reviewing the formula for calculating payments at an earlier date than originally intended, though it insists it is "as robust as possible in the current circumstances".
The letter concludes: "We have listened to and are responding to your concerns and fears by introducing a guarantee that no-one loses from the new arrangements, by committing to a formula review from October 2004 and by providing funding to make practice lists more accurate in order to ensure movement to registered lists as soon as possible".
A special conference for GPs' Local Medical Committees to debate the new updated package will be held next month, with the ballot scheduled to be launched on 15 May.
Throughout the long-running negotiations the pricing of the contract has remained the most vital element for GPs, with the generous sums offered for additional services intended to persuade the majority to back the proposals.
GPs are now calculating their incomes by filling in a ready reckoner on the BMA website www.bma.org.uk
