RCGP responds to the Future Forum Report
13th June 2011
The RCGP has published its response to the
Future Forum's recommendations to Government.
RCGP Chair Dr Clare Gerada said:
“The RCGP has welcomed the opportunity to take part in this
listening exercise, and we are grateful to Professor Field, and the
Forum, for their efforts in taking our concerns, and those of many
thousands of others, into account.
“As always, the devil will be in the detail, and we will
now be going through the report in full to look at the
implications. The Government’s reaction and response to the report,
and how this influences the future passage of the Bill, and
improves the care our patients receive from the NHS, will be
crucial.
“We are reassured that things are moving in the right direction;
the emphasis on preserving the principles of the NHS and keeping it
free at the point of need; freeing the NHS from political
interference; clinical commissioning of local services led by GPs;
and the real focus on reducing health inequalities are to be
welcomed.
“We are encouraged by the Forum’s recommendations for the future
role of Monitor in relation to competition, and the report’s
insistence that private providers should not be allowed to ‘cherry
pick’ patients.
“But we still have a number of outstanding concerns about the
potential risks and unexpected consequences of the proposals. We
need the Government to reassure us that GPs will be given the
freedom and autonomy to lead the decision-making and design of
future integrated health systems drawing on the support of other
health, social care and third sector services. We support
clinician-led commissioning but continue to believe that GPs are
best placed to lead this process.
“We also need further guarantees that changes to geographic and
practice boundaries, and the tendering for services will not
disrupt the continuity of care that is so vitally important to
patients. And we worry that the Future Forum's proposals may lead
to additional levels of complexity and bureaucracy which will
impede the ability of commissioners to develop appropriate services
with, and for their patients.
“These are issues our members have been raising since the
publication of the White Paper in July 2010; we recently wrote to
the Prime Minister detailing our concerns, and the subsequent
changes we want enacted on the Bill. We will now be looking to the
Government to demonstrate that they have indeed listened, and are
prepared to act on these concerns.
“We await the Government’s response, and the next steps with
interest.”
View the recommendations in full
FURTHER INFORMATION
RCGP Press office – 020 3188 7574 /7575 / 7576
Out of hours: 07885 958 632
press@rcgp.org.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of over
42,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We work
to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical
practice and act as the voice of GPs on education, training,
research and clinical standards.