09 November 2001
In an attempt to attract family doctors to deprived areas, surgeries will be refurbished or replaced and new GPs will be given 'golden hellos' of up to £10,000.
The £55m building package, to be spent over the next two years, is expected to benefit 2,000 existing GPs in 600 practices.
Using £30m of public capital, buildings will be extended or replaced in order to accommodate and train some of the extra 2,000 GPs the government has promised by 2004.
A further £15m will be used to accommodate increased numbers of other members of the primary care workforce, such as practice nurses.
Six NHS Lift (Local Improvement Finance Trust) projects will raise £10m to build and own new facilities and lease them to GPs, pharmacists or dentists. Leases will be more flexible than traditional long-term arrangements so GPs do not feel 'tied down' – one of the biggest obstacles to attracting doctors to deprived areas.
Lift schemes will be organised by Partnerships for Health, a new public-private partnership jointly owned by the Department of Health and Partnerships UK. Each owns 50% of the company and will put £5m into the new developments in Barnsley, Camden and Islington, East London and the City, Salford and Trafford in Greater Manchester, Newcastle and North Tyneside and Sandwell.
A further £340m is expected to be invested in Lift over the next three years.
Health Secretary Alan Milburn said the investment and the 'golden hellos' would tackle health inequalities.
British Medical Association GP leader John Chisholm said the funding was 'a step in the right direction'. He added: 'It is sensible to see the targeting of investment on under-doctored and deprived areas.'
He also welcomed an initiative to make general practice more attractive to doctors. This includes giving each new GP a 'golden hello' of up to £5,000, while those who work in an under-doctored area could get a further £5,000. About 1,300 GPs are expected to benefit this year.
PFnov2001
