GP Contract Deal Could Relieve Pressure On A&E

A new contract for GPs has been agreed which will allow doctors to focus on keeping more patients out of hospital A&E units and into out-of-hours care.

The changes will mean every person aged 75 and over will be assigned a named, accountable GP to ensure patients receive co-ordinated care.

GPs will also take on more responsibility for out-of-hours care, with a commitment to monitor the quality of those services being used by their patients.

Concerns have been raised over the quality of out-of-hours care since a 2004 GP contract enabled family doctors to opt out of night and weekend work by sacrificing £6,000 a year in salary.

Under the new agreement, there will be an "enhanced service" for patients with complex health needs to avoid them being unnecessarily admitted to hospital or A&E.

Jeremy Hunt has said the personal link between patients and GPs was broken

Emergency care departments will have easier telephone access to GPs to decide whether or not a patient needs to be admitted.

And new IT systems will improve the ability of patients to book appointments online and to access their summary medical record.

The quality and outcomes framework (QOF) - which financially rewards GPs for hitting targets in areas such as diabetes care - will also be cut.

The British Medical Association (BMA), which negotiated for doctors, said the changes would cut unnecessary targets, reduce bureaucratic box-ticking and give doctors more time to focus on the needs of their patients.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the BMA's GP committee, said: "We recognise that GPs are facing unprecedented pressures on workload with rising demand and limited resources.

"From the outset of this year's contract talks, the BMA has sought to positively engage with the Government to address the difficult financial and workload pressures facing general practice, in order to find new ways of improving patient care, while at the same time freeing up GPs and practice nurses from pointless bureaucracy.

"Our agreement will deliver real benefit to patients and build on the work already carried out by GPs."

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, said: "The 2004 GP contract broke the personal link between GP and patient.

"It piled target after target on doctors, took away their responsibility for out-of-hours care and put huge pressure on our A&E departments.

"This Government has a plan to sort this out and today's announcement of a new GP contract is a vital step."

Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham, said: "No amount of spin can hide the fact that David Cameron has made it harder to get a GP appointment.

"This announcement will not put an end to patients phoning the surgery at 9am and finding it impossible to get an appointment - many of whom, not happy with a phone consultation, will still turn to A&E."

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