David Furness, the author of the Social Market Foundation’s major health report, has described Government’s plans to transfer billions of pounds from Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) to GPs, to commission NHS services, as being “at best a waste of time, at worst a waste of money”.
Commenting on the White Paper, he said: “Giving control of NHS funds to GPs is like asking your waiter to manage a restaurant. They might know what you want to eat but they won’t necessarily be any good at ordering stock, designing a menu or controlling the chef. Commissioning healthcare is very difficult and needs a specialised organisation to do it. “GP consortia will need organisational support to work effectively. Who else could do this but current PCT staff? This new NHS reorganisations will mean wasted years reinventing the system we have now. With the prospect of a funding squeeze that will certainly have an impact on patients, this is no time to introduce an ideologically driven policy that forces GPs to become NHS managers.”
