Judy Viitanen was interested to read that an HSJ survey shows that 61% of respondents think GP consortia will be “indistinguishable” from PCTs in 5 years! Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose?
More than 2,800 HSJ readers - PRimage included - have taken part in the survey, which drew responses from managers and clinicians across the NHS, including chief executives, chairs and GPs themselves. And three quarters say that they do not agree with plans to place the bulk of the NHS’s £80bn commissioning budget in the hands of GPs. Two thirds say GPs do not know enough about services outside primary care and over half say they do not trust local GPs to use commissioning budgets in the best interests of patients.
Worryingly, over half say they expect GPs to use commissioning budgets to increase their own profits! And perhaps predictably, over 55 per cent of primary care trust staff involved in commissioning fear they will lose their jobs as a result of the NHS white paper.