Blame for GP conflict ‘lies with DoH’

The Patients Association has reported that the conflict between the government and GPs regarding contracts and pays is the fault of the Department of Health (DoH).

Comments from the charity follow statements from health secretary Patricia Hewitt, who told the BBC that the government should have capped the profits GPs were permitted to take from their new contracts, in order to preserve the previous income to profits ratio.

Vanessa Bourne, head of special projects at the Patients Association, said: “Those in the Department of Health whose job it is to negotiate on behalf of the taxpayer should have known from previous experience of getting it wrong, what to do to get it right.”

Ms Bourne added that she felt GPs salaries were representative of their work, with practitioners being underpaid in the past, but criticised the manner in which GP contracts were negotiated, claiming the method of negotiations was the cause of the conflict that has arisen.

The BBC reports that the average wages GPs take from their practices has risen to over ?100,000 since the signing of the new contract in 2004.

Liberal Democrat spokesperson for health, Norman Lamb, stated that the government had made a “hash” of the GP pay contract negotiations and called for review of the approach to NHS pay agreements.