Government announces new GP practices for under-served areas

The Department of Health has announced plans to set up new GP practices in areas of England that are currently poorly served in this regard.

Each primary care trust benefitting from one of these 12 GP practices will receive over 1.1 million pounds as their share of the 250 million pound access fund announced last year to fund a minimum of 100 new GP practices in deprived areas.

The government has also announced the planned launch of a consultation on the proposed 105 million pound investment in existing practices.

This money will aim to expand clinical services offered at such practices and improve access for patients, while also implementing the annual recommendations for GP pay from the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body.

Alan Johnson, health secretary, said: “There has been some recent scaremongering about the future of GP practices.

“Today’s announcement shows we are not only committed to Britain’s excellent family doctor system, but also to expanding it, encouraging GPs to provide more services, closer to where people live, so they don’t have to make so many unnecessary trips to hospital.”

He added that improved access to primary care is a major priority if the NHS is to delvier more personalised care to properly meet the needs of communities and individuals, especially those in disadvantaged areas.

Last month, the chairman of the GP committee of the British Medical Association expressed his opposition to the “headling rush” into polyclinics, claiming they could potentially undermine existing routes for delivering superior healthcare.