New GP Contract Will Bring Back Old-Fashioned Family Doctors

Giving millions of elderly people a dedicated GP personally accountable for their care around the clock will bring back the era of the old-fashioned family doctor, Conservative Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt MP announced today.

Under changes to their contract with the NHS, GPs will ensure the four million patients aged 75 or over will get all the treatment they need for physical and mental conditions.  Other key changes introduce more transparency over practices’ earnings and performance, greater patient choice and fairer pay.

The new contract for 2014/15 was agreed between the British Medical Association’s General Practice Committee and NHS England, directed by the Department of Health.  GPs will oversee personalised care plans integrating all services, so the frail and elderly are better cared for in the community, reducing hospital admissions.

Out of five million emergency admissions last year, one third were people over 75, and more than one million could have been avoided.

GPs’ new responsibilities will include:

• offering patients same-day telephone consultations
• offering paramedics, A&E doctors and care homes a dedicated telephone line so they can advise on treatment
• coordinating care for elderly patients discharged from A&E
• regularly reviewing emergency admissions from care homes to avoid unnecessary call-outs in future
• monitoring and reporting on the quality of out-of-hours care

It is hoped this service will eventually be offered to millions more vulnerable people with long-term conditions that need more support.

Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt said, “The 2004 GP contract broke the personal link between GP and patient.  It piled target after target on doctors, took away their responsibility for out-of-hours care and put huge pressure on our A&E departments.  This government has a plan to sort this out and today’s announcement of a new GP contract is a vital step.

“We are bringing back named GPs for the vulnerable elderly.  This means proper family doctors, able to focus on giving elderly people the care they need and prevent unnecessary trips to hospital.  Rigorous new inspections of GP surgeries will mean every local person will know whether they are getting the care they deserve.

“This is about fixing the long-term pressures on our A&E services, empowering hard-working doctors and improving care for those with the greatest need.”