Maintain pressure on reforms to protect NHSPatient complaints will cost GPs millions in fines
Complaints from patients about waiting times for appointments will from now on cost general practices millions of pounds in funding.
Doctors who receive negative responses will be penalised under the new GP Patient Survey, which has just been published in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with total costs expected to exceed £10 million.
An average practice of three GPs with 5,800 patients could see £7,000 cut from its budget under the new rules. Meanwhile, larger practices could lose £25,000.
Critics of the new survey say that the results are based on responses from too few patients, and argue that fines could lead to cutbacks in services and staff hours.
The chairman of the British Medical Association GPs’ Committee, Laurence Buckman, said: `We are not defending people who are not very good, but a large number of practices in England will be adversely hit and in many cases unfairly hit.
‘The penalties are going to range from tiny to huge. I don’t think patients realised that when they filled in the survey.
‘The results can be skewed enormously by responses from a small number of patients.’
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Readers' comments (4)
Anonymous | 30-Jun-2009 1:47 pm
Good! It was because I was unable to get an appointment for three days that I became even more ill, and am now having to take time off work, that impacts on the patients I care for!
This whole, call in on the day for an appointment is ridiculous, and practices should only be allowed to do this in the morning, not all day.
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Anonymous | 30-Jun-2009 7:26 pm
This seems a little harsh. What about all the appointments that are wasted by people failing to attend them.
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Anonymous | 1-Jul-2009 12:03 pm
I've had to wait 3 weeks to see a specific GP otherwise a 5 day wait is not unusual. Not all illness's need a same day appt, but 5 days is a long time when in pain or worried.The ring in the morning system is no use when someone has to go out to work, they need to see a GP but aren't ill enough or are unable to take time off. and the ring and the GP will call you back is also useless for those of us that work, let alone the amount of time the
GPs are wasting on calling everyone back.
GP phone consultations should also be banned as I have seen the inappropiate dispensing of medications usually antibiotics via this method based on a clients description of "symptoms"
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Anonymous | 1-Jul-2009 5:02 pm
Agree with the top and last comments. These appointment methods don't work. And it is this that needs to improve.
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