BMA GP chairman calls for review of ‘wasteful’ NHS

The British Medical Association’s (BMA’s) GP Committee chairman Dr Laurence Buckman has called on the government to scrap a number of “wasteful” NHS policies.

Speaking at the annual Local Medical Committees Conference, Dr Buckman suggested that unnecessary management tiers, needless Private Finance Initiative schemes and the GP patient survey should all be abolished in order to achieve efficiency savings.

The comments come in response to increasing pressure on NHS Trusts to achieve up to 20 billion pounds worth of savings before 2014, as part of a wider programme of government cutbacks.

Dr Buckman said: “[The] government must be determined to avoid wasteful and un-evidenced policies.”

In addition, the BMA GP committee chairman suggested that schemes such as NHS Direct and Choose and Book should be revised in order to make them more cost-effective.

This comes after the BMA last week welcomed the forthcoming review into the impact of the European Working Time Directive in healthcare, voicing concern that the laws are causing junior doctors to miss out on training.