Calls for rethink of Government threat to budgets for rural GPs

The Government has faced an outcry over plans to phase out top-up compensation payments for GP practices with have low footfall.

Critics claim the move will mean some practices in deeply rural areas could be forced to close and it means rural practices, such as those in Egton and Danby, in the Esk Valley, being faced with a shortfall in their GP budgets which they have no way of clawing back.

Both Egton and Danby were placed in the top ten of a recent patient satisfaction survey of GP practices across England but are faced with losing thousands of pounds from their budgets because of the changes.

Linda Lloyd, chair of the Danby Practice Patient Reference Group, said yesterday: “We are looking for ways for NHS England to factor in a rurality payment.

“If you live in a rural place it costs much more to exist. Therefore your healthcare costs more and we must take this into account.”

She said under the Government’s changes Danby was set to lose a total of £62,000 over a number of years, while Egton is set to loose £72,000 over a period of time.

The Government has been lobbied by GPs around the country after it was announced the Minimum Practice Income Guarantee (MPIG), a top up of a practice’s core funding, will be axed from April.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has met with local MPs to hear their views on the plan and the Prime Minister David Cameron has told MPs he would “personally” look at the implications.

Foreign Secretary William Hague, who is also Richmond MP, has convened a public meeting with officials from NHS England and Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby Clinical Commissioning Group next month to discuss services in his constituency.

Mrs Lloyd said any cuts in budgets were especially galling at a time when Danby and Egton did so well in a recent NHS England GP Patient Survey, designed to give patients the opportunity to comment on their experience of their GP practice, which saw Danby come third and Egton come tenth.

“I am hoping that the powers that be that give the money realise that there has to be a premium on our rural areas and specifically when we score so highly.

“We are saying our surgeries are so good and that should bring you an extra income because if you are doing everything right you are probably going over and above.”

Mr Hague has convened a public meeting on Friday January 10, 4.30pm-6.30pm, at Richmond Town Hall to give his constituents the chance to discuss issues such as the future of healthcare services for older people and funding plans for rural GPs.

He said earlier this month: “Providing healthcare services in rural areas, where it can be a long way to the nearest doctor and conditions are often very difficult, especially during the winter, has always been challenging.

“I have consistently called on health officials, at local and national level, to recognise these unique difficulties when planning services.

“People living in rural communities are just as entitled as those living in urban areas to a full range of care delivered to the highest standard.”

The Department of Health has said the income guarantee was being phased out to achieve better value for the NHS.

“This will stop some GP practices receiving thousands of pounds more than others that look after similar number of patients with similar needs,” a spokeswoman said.

She said the changes will be managed over seven years to allow all practices to adjust to different payments gradually.