Govt: Improvements valued by patients
Thursday, 28 Feb 2008 09:43
The GP contract has improved the quality of care offered by GPs, health minister Ben Bradshaw has insisted.
His comments come in response to a report which showed productivity had fallen and costs were significantly higher than anticipated following the full implementation of GPs' contracts in 2004.
Mr Bradshaw also emphasised the role the contracts had played in aiding recruitment and retention, saying they had "stemmed the haemorrhaging of GPs from the NHS".
"Longer consultations, quicker appointments and being able to book ahead are improvements valued by patients," he added.
"We are building on these improvements to provide more convenient GP opening hours and will be discussing with the profession what further measures we can take to improve GP and other primary care services."