The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 278 No 7444 p332
24 March 2007

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Government pushes health White Paper agenda

A Government programme for tackling inequalities in access to GP services has taken steps forward, with four areas in England earmarked to have health services offered by non-NHS providers, Patricia Hewitt, health secretary, revealed this week.

The programme, known as “Fairness in primary care procurement” and made public in last year’s White Paper “Our health, our care, our say”, is designed to improve the range of health services in deprived localities and involves the Government managing the procurement of a health services contract, with a primary care trust’s specifications, on behalf of a PCT. The Department of Health will help PCTs in Hartlepool, County Durham, Ashfield and Great Yarmouth — areas with health service shortages — to set up new Alternative Provider Medical Services contracts that respond to local needs.

However, the Government scheme does not provide PCTs with financial assistance. A DoH spokesman explained: “Any PCT can already use the [existing] APMS contract to bring in additional primary care services in their local area. The FPC programme does not alter or extend that opportunity. The programme will, however, provide support to those PCTs in deprived or under-doctored areas to set-up these APMS contracts by providing expert advice from the department.” He said that PCTs may have been reluctant or unable to set-up APMS contracts due to lack of expertise locally.

“This is not a financial issue,” he went on to say. “PCTs have received significant increases in their allocations to help fund improvements in local services. The funding for the new contracts will come from the PCT.”

There was speculation this week in the national press that supermarkets and pharmacy chains may want to take on the GP contracts. Boots made closer links with general practice earlier this year when Poole NHS Healthcare Centre opened its doors in a Boots store (PJ, 27 January, p101). But a spokeswoman for Boots told The Journal that directly employing GPs was not currently on the company’s agenda. “We believe we can add more value as a location for accessing NHS services, rather than privately running GP contracts,” she said.