GPs given more time in cuts row

Jan 24 2008 by Audrey Barton, The Journal

NORTHUMBERLAND doctors have been given more time to thrash out the details of a solution to avoid drastic cuts being imposed on them.

Northumberland Care Trust has stood down the deadline for an agreement in principal from GPs to the new contract which must be signed by April 1.

Members of the Local Medical Committee met with the trust yesterday to thrash out the finer details of the agreement which would see budget cuts of up to 3% in the next two financial years, in line with national NHS efficiency savings, rather than the 8% they were facing next financial year.

More work would be shifted from hospitals to doctors in primary care to make savings towards the £1.6m which was to be shaved off primary care.

The talks focus on the planned cuts to the Northumberland’s locally agreed Personal Medical Services (PMS) GP contract which covers 90% of the county’s practices.

Jane Lothian, medical secretary for the LMC and negotiator said: “The devil is in the detail and we’re trying to hammer it out, we are cautiously optimistic.

“Next we need to get the details of the solution out to the GPs as, essentially, the contract ends on March 31.”

She said the solution is still a “work in progress” agreed in principal by LMC GPs but Northumberland practices have yet to see the detail.

“We are cautiously optimistic that we have found a way to both protect current levels of service and to develop a new contract that will have quality of provision as its focus.

“The national policy is to move care closer to home, this proposal could allow this to happen in a coordinated and appropriately resourced way.”

Northumberland has a high proportion of local PMS agreements as opposed to the nationally-agreed General Medical Services (GMS) contracts. PMS agreements were introduced to allow GP practices to provide services over and above those outlined in GMS contracts.

As Northumberland Care Trust wrestles with a £14m debt and must save £11.9m to break even it reviewed the cost of the PMS contracts resulting in the planned drastic cuts.

The uncertainty of the future of the PMS contract has prompted a small number of practices to consider returning to the GMS contract, according to Dr Lothian.

Northumberland Care Trust has lifted the original deadline for an agreement in principal on the PMS contract which was on Monday.

A spokeswoman for Northumberland Care Trust confirmed the deadline had been lifted to give more time to work on the new package.

She said: “Yesterday was a routine meeting we are having with the LMC to take forward the discussions.

“We are working out the detail behind the latest proposal and the discussions are positive.

“We are hoping to be in a position to send further information out very soon.”

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Bishop declares support for doctors over reduction in services

THE Bishop of Newcastle has stepped in to declare his support for Northumberland family doctors facing cuts to their services.

In a statement, the Right Reverend Martin Wharton said GP practices in rural Northumberland played a hugely significant role in maintaining the social fabric of our villages and hamlets.

“Indeed, they have gained a national reputation for the primary health care which they provide. This is of great importance for people of all ages who live in our rural communities, often at considerable distances from the nearest hospital.

“I am therefore most concerned to learn that GPs funded by the Northumberland Care Trust are under pressure to accept contracts which would seriously affect their ability to offer such a high standard of care.”

He added: “Right across Northumberland, GPs are being asked to reduce their budgets considerably, following two years of no budget increases at all.

“ These reductions are being imposed not because of inefficiencies on the part of GPs, but in order to stabilise the financial situation the Northumberland Care Trust as a whole.

“Such a reduction of health care services in the villages of Northumberland is likely to contribute to the increasing depopulation of our more isolated communities. In addition, the imposition of such reductions might in reality prove a false economy.

Doctors in the Northumberland LMC believe they are close to finding a solution to avoid the cuts but have not yet reached a formal agreement. The Bishop said he was “heartened” by the development.