Press release: Ballot on new GP contract delayed
17 Mar 2003
A ballot of all UK family doctors on the acceptability of the proposed new GP contract has been delayed while the BMA and the NHS Confederation investigate reports that many practices would lose money and become destabilised under the new arrangements.
Dr John Chisholm, chairman of the BMA's General Practitioners Committee (GPC) said: "The intention of the new contract is to reward practices that offer a quality service to their patients, not to penalise them. Clearly, the GPC cannot support funding arrangements that threaten to undermine the viability of practices. At a time of huge GP shortages the last thing we can afford to do is lose practices. We fully understand GPs' concerns and anxieties. We have decided to suspend the ballot on the acceptability of the contract temporarily, until we have analysed the nature and size of the problem and can put forward solutions."
Ballot papers were due to have been posted on Thursday (20 March 2003) to 43,000 UK GPs. The closing date was scheduled for 11 April. The BMA announced details of the proposed new contract in February following 16 months of negotiations with the NHS Confederation, acting as agents for the UK Governments.
Problems emerged last week when the UK's 11,000 GP practices received individual figures to help them estimate their potential incomes under the new contract arrangements. Large numbers of doctors said they would be worse off, even if they achieved high scores in the quality performance framework. Investigations into the cause of the problem will centre on the complex formula used in calculating practice allocations and the patient list data on which it is based.
Mike Farrar, chair of the NHS Confederation negotiating team, said: "We have confidence in the overall shape of the contract and its intention to inject significant extra resources into primary care based on the needs of patients and the cost of delivering that care, with rewards for high quality services. The delay to the ballot will enable us to work with the BMA to examine the concerns being raised by GPs, and to ensure the contract will deliver our commitment to boost the income of all practices providing higher quality care."
Dr Chisholm said: "We are taking urgent steps to ensure that no practices are destabilised, whilst preserving the principles underpinning the new contract and being fair to all GPs. A letter explaining the situation will go out to all GPs this week and we are holding emergency meetings to find acceptable answers. We will announce a new date for the ballot as soon as possible."
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