Strengthening family doctor services

Health Secretary Alan Johnson this week underlined the Government's commitment to improving family doctor services alongside further plans to tackle long-standing inequalities in GP provision.

Twelve new GP practices will be set up in some of the more poorly served areas in England. A consultation will also shortly be launched with the BMA on a proposed £105 million investment in existing GP practices to further expand clinical services and to improve access for patients, as well as the implementation of the Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body annual recommendations for GP pay.

New GP Practices

The twelve Primary Care Trusts benefitting from a new GP practice will each receive over £1.1m by 2010/11 as their share of the £250m access fund announced last autumn, to fund at least 100 new GP practices in the most deprived areas and 152 GP-led health centres.

Areas with the fewest GPs have poorer general health and greater deprivation. Some areas only have 43 GPs per 100,000 people compared to 88 GPs per 100,000 people in areas with the best coverage.

The new practices announced today will increase family doctor capacity in places that need it most and offer a range of innovative services such as extended opening hours and extended practice catchment areas as well as increased choice of GP practices for patients and reduced pressure on existing GP practices.

The first practices are expected to be open to patients in less than a year's time. Primary Care Trusts will work with clinicians and the public to develop patient services that reflect local needs and then look to potential providers to come forward with innovative proposals for the new practices.

Consultation on investment in access and clinical services

We will also be consulting on proposals to invest an extra £105 million in family doctor services to improve clinical services and care to patients, deliver better access and improve the responsiveness of GP services, and implement the Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body annual recommendations for GP pay.

The proposals in the consultation will be to invest around £50 million in additional clinical services and to make available around a further £50 million for Primary Care Trusts to invest locally in improving access and responsiveness of GP services for patients - including extended opening hours and improvements to Surgery premises, or supporting practices that are expanding to provide increased choice for local patients.

The proposals involve investment in a range of enhanced patient services:

* New measures to tackle heart failure;
* Spreading best practice on osteoporosis treatment;
* Annual health checks for people with severe learning disabilities;
* Better data recording to help improve patient care for people from black and minority ethnic groups; and
* Increased support to overcome harmful drinking.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson said:

"There has been some recent scaremongering about the future of GP practices. Today's announcement shows we are not only committed to Britain's excellent family doctor system, but also to expanding it, encouraging GPs to provide more services, closer to where people live, so they don't have to make so many unnecessary trips to hospital.

"The 152 health centres we are opening in towns and cities are funded with new money and will sit alongside traditional general practice as an option for patients who want very easy evening and weekend access to their GP.

"Improving access to primary care is also a key priority if we are to deliver more personalised care that meets the needs of individuals and communities, especially those in more disadvantaged or deprived areas. Evidence shows there is a direct link between low numbers of GP surgeries and poor health within a community.

"This is not just about building extra primary care capacity but developing high-quality, responsive services with a strong focus on prevention. This is a great opportunity for entrepreneurial GPs as well as social enterprises, voluntary organisations and the independent sector to develop innovative services for patients."