Doctor advice

Published on 14/11/2012 00:00

It beggars belief that members of the British Medical Association will meet this week to decide whether to follow up their summer strike over pensions with a new one over pay.

In 2004, New Labour signed contracts with GPs giving them extra rewards for monitoring and treating some conditions which had previously been 
regarded as part of the job.

As a result of this and other lunacies (such as extra pay for giving patients leaflets about opening hours), family doctor remuneration soared by 50 per cent to around £105,000.

Sadly, not only did New 
Labour “targets” allow them to earn money too easily, it skewed practice behaviour and encouraged GPs to focus on patients who added to the pot.

The coalition wants to scrap extra payments for work that family doctors should be doing anyway, and their threat over such a necessary reform is 
deplorable.

(Dr) John Cameron

Howard Place

St Andrews