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Replacement to GP contract is ‘years away’

Replacement to GP contract is ‘years away’
3 May 2012



More and more enhanced GP services will be delivered outside of the GP contract, a British Medical Association (BMA) GP Committee (GPC) lead negotiator has predicted.
 
Dr Chaand Nagpaul said it will take “several years” to replace the current GP contract and implement the changes.
 

More and more enhanced GP services will be delivered outside of the GP contract, a British Medical Association (BMA) GP Committee (GPC) lead negotiator has predicted.
 
Dr Chaand Nagpaul said it will take “several years” to replace the current GP contract and implement the changes.
 
“We are concerned that we don’t want to disrupt the whole of general practice by an ill-conceived and rapid change [to the GP contract] to what we have now,” he said.
 
However, the “disparities” in the current contract will be addressed sooner, said Dr Nagpaul.
 
He predicts more GP enhanced services will be carried out in addition to their contractual obligations from the core contract “to try to result in change”.
 
“Rather than getting a new contract, we would use mechanisms outside of the contract to fund general practice enhanced services,” he said.
 
“This means the practice would be delivering more commissioned care but not as a contractual requirement.”
 
A spokesperson from NHS Employers said Dr Nagpaul’s predication is “not something we have a view on”.

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