16 April 2004
NHS primary care services have been given a glowing progress report by the doctor charged with making improvements in the sector.
This week, the Department of Health's primary care national director David Colin-Thome said the service offered by GPs and other primary care professionals had improved significantly during the past year. Around 97% of patients were able to see a GP within the NHS Plan target of two working days – up from 75% in March 2002.
Services such as minor surgery that have been traditionally provided in hospitals are increasingly offered by GPs. Last year, more than 700,000 such procedures were performed in local practices – an increase of 100,000 on the previous year.
In this, his first progress report on primary care, Dr Colin-Thome added he was confident that the NHS Plan target of recruiting 2,000 more GPs by this month will be achieved.
Two thousand surgeries have been improved or replaced, and 268 one-stop primary care centres established – this was part of a total investment in premises of up to £1bn by 2005. Almost every GP practice has signed up to the new contract, ensuring investment in primary care will increase by a third over the next three years, Dr Colin-Thome said.
'The new contract will help realise our vision of a responsive, high-quality primary care service that meets patients' health care needs, close to their home, whatever their circumstances and whatever the time of day or night.'
Health Secretary John Reid congratulated staff for their efforts and added: 'The next few years will see an increased focus on delivering more primary care services. This will be backed by a 33% increase in funding for primary care. The NHS is on track to hit its target to recruit 2,000 more GPs by April 2004. But we are not complacent, we will continue to work hard to recruit even more.'
NHS Confederation chief executive Gill Morgan said the report confirmed major improvements were under way. 'We believe the new contract is an exciting opportunity to build on this, with a new drive to provide high-quality services closer to home,' she added.
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