Call for evidence on the general

practice services sector in

England

Paul Dinkin

17 September 2013

Monitor’s primary duty is to protect and promote

the interests of patients

Supporting

good

governance

Choice and

competition

Enabling

integrated

care

Ensuring

continuity of

services

Monitor protects and promotes interests of people who use

health care services through:

Pricing NHS

services

(working with

NHS England)

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GP sector: key facts and figures

General practice is the first point of contact for the

majority of patients

• Around 8,100 GP practices in England

• Around 310 million consultations per year or 6

million per week

• National spend of around £7 billion per

year, split about 60:40 between practice

expenses and GP pay

• Investment in services and average GP

income doubled from 2002/03 to 2005/06 after

introduction of new GP contract, but have

declined steadily since, with real-term

reductions of 3 per cent in expenditure and 12

per cent in average GP pay since 2006/07

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General practice also has a significant impact on

other parts of the health and social care system

• Directly influences levels and patterns of

expenditure on hospital referrals (£8 billion) and

prescribing (£8 billion)

• GP access/quality also affect emergency

admissions and urgent care costs

• Every GP practice is now a member of a clinical

commissioning group and thus increasingly

involved in commissioning both primary and

secondary care

We invited comments on three sets of issues

We invited stakeholders to comment on issues relating to:

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1. Patients' ability to access GP services….including their ability to switch individual GPs or GP practices

if they want to

2. The ability for new or existing providers of GP services to develop the scope of their offer to the

NHS….including developing new services, operating in new locations, or expanding their staff or premises

3. New models of primary care that local health communities are planning or considering.…and the

potential barriers to these being implemented

We announced a call for evidence on 1 July 2013 to determine “the extent to which commissioning and

provision of GP services is operating in the best interests of patients”.

We are about half way through our work

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1. Receive written submissions and conduct desk-

based research

2. Conduct stakeholder interviews and engagement

events

3. Prepare publication setting out what

we have heard and any next steps

July 2013

Publication of call for

evidence

9 December 2013

Publication of issues

statement

September 2013

Questions for patients

Questions about which we are interested in hearing from patients include:

1. How important is it to patients to see the same GP each time?

2. Are patients able to access a GP or practice nurse in a reasonable amount of time

when you need to?

3. Are patients able to see a GP or practice nurse or register at a GP surgery in a place

which is convenient for you?

4. Are patients able to switch GP or GP practice when you want to?

5. Do patients feel that their GP and practice are responsive to their specific needs?

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We are very happy to meet with all interested

stakeholders

Find us at: http://www.monitor.gov.uk/gpservices

E-mail us at: gpservices@monitor.gov.uk

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