Fears For Future Of Merseyside GP Surgeries
Do you think Merseyside GP's will survive the next few years?
Some senior figures are seriously worried about smaller practices, which will be the hardest hit by new CQC fees planned over the next two years.
They propose that for single location GPs with thousands of patients would see a sevenfold rise from £725 to £4839 in two years.
It could affect dozens of surgeries in the region, who are feeling the pinch.
GPs debated calls to oppose any rise in CQC fees demanded of practices on Saturday and discussed how all fees should be fully reimbursed.
Dr Robert Barnett, a GP at Mossley Hill and a member of the British Medical Association sa
“This is just another added pressure thats going to be on practices, when we should be encouraging them to provide more services and care for patients. This is another nail in the coffin"
David Behan, Chief Executive of the Care Quality Commission, said:
"Our commitment is to make sure that people receive safe, effective, compassionate and high-quality care and we can see that our new inspection model is allowing us to support providers to do exactly that. The fees providers pay enables this important work to happen.”
"We are required to move to full cost recovery and are consulting on how we do this. We recognise the financial pressures faced by many providers, and do not underestimate the impact of any changes to their fees. We developed our proposals with an expert panel; including representatives from the providers we regulate.”
"We are committed to ensuring that we continue to monitor the costs of our regulatory work closely, as well as seek to improve our efficiency, evaluate our effectiveness and demonstrate the value of our approach to the public, as taxpayers and as people who use services, and to the sectors we regulate”.