An army of salaried GPs

Been busy with life so not posted for a while, so much has happened in the world since I last posted. Putin has gone true megalomaniac and invaded Ukraine, and if reports are true, they are doing a valiant job holding him back. Things were already very expensive prior to the war due to Covid but with sanctions flying from the western nations to Russia, it has made things like petrol very expensive. Certain foods are also set to rise, with the bulk of sunflower oil and wheat coming from these two countries, things like bread and livestock which need as feed, will become more expensive. Drivers have already noticed, with petrol prices through the roof, I'm sure we're a few weeks away from 200p / litre. Rishi Sunak tried to stem this tide with his announcement today, increasing the NI limit and taking 5p off fuel duty. Covid seems like a long lost friend...

However what has come out a few weeks ago is a document that outlined a potential future of primary care. Its a long document and I encourage you to read browse through it here. Importantly, the current health minister Sajid Javid wrote the foreword endorsing the report. I have skimmed through it and just gleaned the points I thought were interesting to me. Fundamentally, it wants to remove the GP partnership model and replace it with an army of salaried GPs. This would happen over the next 8 or so years, with the plan being that the independent contractor model would be phased out by mid 2030's. The NHS would hand out consultant contracts to GPs, additional top ups being given for extra work like being clinical director. The GMS contract would be abolished and a more hospital-based Item of Service financial model would be used. GP partners would not own premises, it would be expected the local health public board such as the foundation trust would buy the lease - this is expected to cost £5 billion.

Below is a comparison of today's GP and the potential future GP's (taken from the report):

Things have already started somewhat. Pulse has reported that a PCN has recruited salaried GPs in that patch to work across difference surgeries. Whether this plan to make us all salaried will be good for patients and GP's is hard to envision. There are definite pros and cons to both models, what will be interesting in the last few years is the battle that will be potentially played out between GPs (likely fighting for the partnership model) and the policy makers demanding a change.