£12 million GPs survey to cut doctors funding
Five million patients will next year be asked to fill in a questionnaire which will ask, among other things, whether they have been able to secure an appointment within 48 hours, as the Government has pledged. The British Medical Association condemned the poll as unfair and biased, and accused the Department of Health of adding questions that had not been agreed. Most GPs accept that they are unlikely to score 100 per cent and so will see a reduction in funding.
Dr Richard Vautrey, a member of the association's GPs' committee, said: "We are concerned about additional questions being asked about opening hours, because we had agreed with the Department of Health how this questionnaire would work and it was changed at the last minute.
"We reluctantly consented to having some part of practice income dependent on a patient questionnaire about access provided it was based on fair, unbiased questions which we agreed," he said.
"Progress towards such an agreement was made until the Government imposed additional questions in the survey which were not agreed."
He pointed out that Saturday and evening surgeries were not part of their contract and that no extra money had been allocated to provide surgeries outside normal hours.
"The GP committee believes the imposition of these questions will raise patient expectations unfairly," he said.
"The questions ask patients if they are satisfied with arrangements for early morning, evening and weekend surgeries at a time when the Government is not prepared to provide GP practices with the resources to open at these times."
Dr Meldrum said the Patient Experience Survey was "totally discredited by the addition of these questions". "GPs will continue to consult their patients about their views on the services they provide because we value their opinions and want to try to arrange our surgeries to meet their needs," he said.
"But using a survey containing leading questions, putting words in patients' mouths, and falsely raising expectations, is not the way to do it."
The survey will also ask about telephone access to the surgery and the ability to book appointments in advance.
Last year Tony Bliar was caught out on BBC's Question Time when a member of the audience, Diana Church, told him she had been unable to make an appointment for her son for two weeks ahead.
It emerged that GP's who were required to provide appointments within 48 hours had stopped accepting advance bookings in some practices.
Today's Health Direct blog was compiled from:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/27/ngps27.xml
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/26/nhs126.xml
Dr Richard Vautrey, a member of the association's GPs' committee, said: "We are concerned about additional questions being asked about opening hours, because we had agreed with the Department of Health how this questionnaire would work and it was changed at the last minute.
"We reluctantly consented to having some part of practice income dependent on a patient questionnaire about access provided it was based on fair, unbiased questions which we agreed," he said.
"Progress towards such an agreement was made until the Government imposed additional questions in the survey which were not agreed."
He pointed out that Saturday and evening surgeries were not part of their contract and that no extra money had been allocated to provide surgeries outside normal hours.
"The GP committee believes the imposition of these questions will raise patient expectations unfairly," he said.
"The questions ask patients if they are satisfied with arrangements for early morning, evening and weekend surgeries at a time when the Government is not prepared to provide GP practices with the resources to open at these times."
Dr Meldrum said the Patient Experience Survey was "totally discredited by the addition of these questions". "GPs will continue to consult their patients about their views on the services they provide because we value their opinions and want to try to arrange our surgeries to meet their needs," he said.
"But using a survey containing leading questions, putting words in patients' mouths, and falsely raising expectations, is not the way to do it."
The survey will also ask about telephone access to the surgery and the ability to book appointments in advance.
Last year Tony Bliar was caught out on BBC's Question Time when a member of the audience, Diana Church, told him she had been unable to make an appointment for her son for two weeks ahead.
It emerged that GP's who were required to provide appointments within 48 hours had stopped accepting advance bookings in some practices.
Today's Health Direct blog was compiled from:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/27/ngps27.xml
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/26/nhs126.xml
posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic at
8:39 AM
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