http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38620935

Fcuk off you Tory cnuts, just fcuk right off.

How about you fund the NHS properly to start with instead of implying GPs aren't doing their jobs and using them as cannon fodder. People's lives are at risk you morally diseased scum.

I keep reading what I've typed there and there isn't a word I'd change... They really are the most reprehensible bastards this side of America.

Well that'll help with the problems recruiting and retaining GPs won't it

There come a point here I'm less surprised that they're trying this crap but that there's anyone left who is still falling for it.

My understanding of this was that this is directed at those surgeries who took on the PM's Challenge Fund. This was an initiative to pay surgeries to open longer and at weekends. IIRC the payment was in the region of 60p per patient*. The uptake by the public was quite poor and a few surgeries stopped doing this because hardly any patient turned up.

Remember that, of the money received, the surgeries would have to pay reception costs, heating and lighting costs etc, before taking home any money. In a lot of places (including where I work), the money offered was well below overhead costs. IIRC for our practice (about 5000 patients), we were offered #11k per year for the whole practice to cover extended hours. It worked out that it would pay for one receptionist and maybe some of the lighting/heating but the doctor would be working for free.


*I think this was 60p per patient as total population covered rather than 60p per patient who turned up.

Actually just realised it's applicable to all GPs. And I can see where this is going:

- open for 34 hours longer/week with no additional pay
- open for current hours (50hrs/wk) with reduction in funding.

Quite a task given that:

- there's not enough GPs to administer current hours
- there are still a lot of single-handed practices who wouldn't be able to do this
- funding was already cut in order for Govt to take out-of-hours (OOH) - it was 6k per GP. Doubt any of this is going to be returned.
- the cost of indemnity will go up to match more work. This will make it financially unviable for some doctors to keep working.

IMO it looks like the only way this will be feasible will be in large-scale practices where there are 20-30 GPs working. Anything smaller will not be able to manage and will be forced to close down. That means you'll have to travel further to see a GP. These large practices will then be ripe for takeover by private companies like Virgin.