http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bi ... m-35927803

Currently, if you live say in Birmingham but work in London, you are supposed to register at your place of residence (ie Birmingham). If you're in London and need to be seen, you have walk in centres and could potentially register as a temporary patient in London. The Govt wanted to abolish GP boundaries and allow patients to register wherever they want. Whilst this is fine for appointments, it becomes problematic for anything above this.

eg Patient lives in Birmingham and works in London. Under the new scheme, they register in London. They then need an urgent home visit. London GP can't feasibly do a home visit in Birmingham. Under the old system, they would have had to register with a GP in Birmingham temporarily. Under the new system, NHS England are responsible for home visits.

In this case, NHSE paid a company to do such home visits. In nine months, the company have done one home visit but received a total of £165k for the service.



As a GP, the surgery gets IIRC £130 per pt irrespective of the number of appointments or home visits. done.

That is indeed bonkers although from the article it does seem like agreeing to pay the £165k was the decision of the West Midlands NHS lot rather than a requirement (though without seeing the contract who knows).

The problem is the drive to break boundaries etc is Govt driven. It's not driven by the general public nor by the medical profession. This was a service that wasn't needed but it was made out to be a requirement.