GPs ‘too expensive’ to run health authorities

Bureaucrats will still run local health authorities, despite Government plans to put clinicians in charge, according to GPs who say the money is not there to pay enough doctors to run them.

By , Medical Correspondent

6:30AM BST 18 Jul 2012

One of Andrew Lansley’s first announcements as Health Secretary was to say England’s 152 primary care trusts (PCTs) would be abolished, to be replaced by groups led by GPs.

The idea – largely approved of by medics – is that doctors will make better decisions about organising local health services for their patients than managers.

However, a new survey by Pulse magazine indicates that GPs are in the minority on the boards of fledgling Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), the organisations that will replace PCTs next April.

Replies from 100 CCGs, found that in total just under half (49 per cent) of board posts are filled by GPs. In a handful, GPs make up only one in five members.

Across the 100, managers and finance officers make up 20 per cent of positions. The remaining 31 per cent is comprised of lay members, nurses, council officials and practice managers.

Part of the idea of CCGs is to keep a strict cap on the amount spent on administration, with them allotted £25 per patient.

But GPs said this meant many CCGs – particularly smaller ones – could not afford having doctors on board.

GP members are compensated for the hours they spend on board work on a pro rata basis, while they are also paid an amount so they can employ a locum.

Dr Guy Mansford, clinical lead and deputy chair of Nottingham West CCG, told Pulse that practices in his area had agreed to cut the number of GP board members from five to two, partially to reduce costs.

He said: ‘For a small CCGs trying to live within the £25 per head budget, it is very hard to do everything.”

Dr George Rae, a GP in Tyne and Wear, said: “‘If it is GP-led commissioning, the correct balance isn’t GPs in the minority. There are other people who have to have input, but we must not sell ourselves short.”

However, a Department of Health spokesman described the figures as “encouraging”.

She said: “These statistics show that there are over twice as many GPs than managers on CCG governing bodies. This is encouraging as they will need to demonstrate a strong clinical focus as part of their authorisation.

“CCGs are at the heart of our plans to deliver more power to doctors and nurses and reduce the costs of bureaucracy.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health