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Almost a half of doctors do not believe that patients will benefit from the coalition Government’s planned overhaul of the NHS, according to a poll.
A total of 45% of 827 doctors quizzed in a survey for the BBC said they did not think the changes would help patients. Just 23% said they would have a positive effect while 32% had no opinion on the plans.
One in four said they would be happy to take on extra planning and buying-in of services, with 57% against the new duties and 18% expressed no opinion.
Moves to involve GPs in commissioning in specialist areas such as cancer and paediatrics was also frowned upon by many GPs in the survey, which was carried out online between September 23 and 30.
A Department of Health spokesman said: “The questions asked in this survey are misleading about the Government’s policy proposals. We are not asking GPs individually to take on commissioning responsibility. However, if a quarter of GPs are prepared to take on the extra responsibility, it’s a powerful indication of the existing willingness to implement our reforms.
“With two and a half years with which to learn from pathfinder commissioning consortia and establish shadow arrangements, there is ample time for practices that do not yet feel ready to build capability collectively. We intend to put in place support arrangements to help practices develop capability.”
Copyright Press Association 2010
