North East GPs fear for future
Waiting times are going up whilst staff levels are going down - and now it's thought a hike in fees will push GPs over the edge.
Do you think North East 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 5,001 – 10,000 patients would see a sevenfold rise from £725 to £4839 in two years.
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 Kenneth Megson, Secretary for Newcastle and North Tyneside, Gateshead and South Tyneside LMC, said:
“Patients will really start to see the difference in a few years’ time when you don’t have a GP you have longer waits, you’ll be seen by other people in GPs.”
“We do have a number of practices in the North East that are teetering on the point of do we hand this contract back? Can we carry on? That’s happening now, never mind with these further increases.”
Dr John Canning, Middlesbrough GP and member of the BMA GPs Committee said:
“Together with all the other things that have happened in general practice it’s just one of those final nails in the coffin. Across the country people are resigning, they’re handing those contracts back to the NHS.”
“They just want out. They can’t cope with the regulation. They can’t cope with the constant change, often the criticism that comes from politicians who don’t seem to understand what it is that we’re doing and how we’re doing it.”
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”.