In a recent announcement, Mr Nigel Edwards, Head of the NHS Confederation warns that hospital beds in England may fill up with the elderly and vulnerable because of cuts to local authority social care funding.

Mr Edwards, said, “People who needed medical treatment may be denied a hospital bed as a result of the cuts.”

In response to Mr Edwards’s comments, The Department for health said, “That an extra £2bn was being allocated to protect social care.”

Under Chancellor George Osborne’s spending review, health spending was ring-fenced. However, councils in England are facing a 27% cut in central government funding over the next four years. 

Mr Edwards went on further to add, “The £2bn interim solution to social care funding announced in the spending review would be a welcome relief to many, but the funding squeeze could still have a knock-on effect on the health service.”

“Less support from council services will quickly lead to increased pressure on emergency services and hospitals. Hospital beds will be blocked for those who badly need care because they support services the elderly require will not be available.”

“When it comes to the care of the most vulnerable in our society, it really is essential that the NHS and local authorities are in it together.”

The Department of Health spokeswoman said, “It understood that social care can impact on NHS demands. That’s why we are strengthening programmes like re-ablement and the 30-day re-admission tariff, which will integrate hospital care with care in the community. We have allocated an additional £2bn by 2014-15 – this extra boost, alongside an ambitious programme of efficiency, will ensure that there is enough funding available both to protect people’s access to services and deliver new approaches to improve quality and outcomes.”

“We expect local health and social care professionals will work together to ensure that the funding is spent on joint health and social care priorities and improve outcomes for everyone.”

Councillor David Rogers, from the Local Government Association, said, “The extra £2bn would not go very far. Of course that is very welcome, but as part of what councils said to the government before the spending review, there’s likely to be a gap over that same time of about £6bn.”

“So, there are still going to be difficulties. But I think that the important thing is to ensure that both councils and the NHS locally work increasingly close together to provide the best services to our residents.”

Critics of the spending review expressed concerns over whether the £2bn earmarked for social care, half of which is to come from a direct grant to local government, would reach its intended target.

Jennifer Dixon, Chief Executive of the Nuffield Trust think tank, said, “The reality is that local authority budgets will be stretched and funds for social care are not ring-fenced, so the extra £1bn per year is by no means certain.”

As the debate on the government’s spending review continues, MPP Locums understands the demands of our health care professionals as the NHS continues to come under review. At MPP Locums we provide doctor recruitment – general and specialist locum doctor jobs, medical jobs for NHS Trusts throughout the UK. 

MPP Locums ensures that all doctors are vigorously checked before being placed in key roles. We provide quality staff to our clients and are regulated by the Care Quality Commission and the NHS Buying Solutions. MPP Locums is an approved supplier of locum jobs to the NHS under the National Locum contract starting 1st July 2008 for the next three years.

If you are seeking NHS doctor jobs, doctor jobs, locum doctor jobs, special registrar jobs, SHO jobs contact our registration team by telephone or register on line and be part of the largest and fastest growing specialist medical recruitment agency in the UK.

A recent report highlights that consultants working for the NHS still receive large bonuses even if their work deteriorates. 

The scheme, which is currently under review, sees consultants being paid bonuses on top of their basic pay of £89,400.00 per year. However, a loophole in the system means they can receive the bonuses for life even if they are under performing. 

Under the current bonus scheme, the best performing consultants can expect to receive more than £75,000 a year on top of their basic salary.

Last year in England a total of £200 million was paid out to consultants in bonuses with 19,892 people being eligible for the bonus payouts.

The bonus scheme dates back to 1948 when the NHS was formed. Currently in England there are 16 different levels of bonuses ranging from £2,957 to £75,899 a year.

Similar schemes are in place elsewhere in the UK, with only a small number of doctors receiving the awards.

To receive the bonus, consultants nominate themselves and provide details of excellent performance and innovation in terms of clinical care, research and training. The consultant’s awards are meant to be reassessed every five years, but a Government review by the Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards, which oversees the bonus scheme, said this did not always happen.

Between 2006 and 2009, just seven of the top awards worth over £35,484 were withdrawn. However, due to the protection clauses, all the doctors who were not eligible for the awards continued to receive payout bonuses even though their bonuses had been formally withdrawn from them. 

The current scheme is being reviewed by independent Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body and is due to report next summer, amidst calls for it to be scrapped. 

Professor Alan Maynard, an expert in health policy at York University said, “They never get stopped, once they have them, they have them for their lifetime. The system needs completely changing. The applicants provide very little information, but you can’t spend the money on anything else as it is earmarked for these awards. I would have preferred to spend it on providing more care.”

“The evidence for performance related pay was questionable anyway, but if there was to be an incentives scheme it should be much tougher.”

Professor John Appleby, chief economist at the King’s Fund, agreed, “I think they are out of step with how the NHS should be paying staff. They should be abolished.”

However, Dr Paul Flynn, of the British Medical Association consultants’ committee defended the scheme – “It is an integral part of the pay structure for consultants. It is only right that those who go over and above what is expected and do the best job get their performance rewarded.”

He said, “The BMA would be willing to engage with the government to make sure the system was transparent, fair and responsive. Pay protection was important as doctors needed security of income and so that the bonuses engaged and motivated, but not distracted them.”

A Department of Health spokeswoman said, “There were anomalies in the system and that was why it was being reviewed.”

She added, “In future we want to see a much tougher approach, including withdrawing them from people who no longer display the quality of work that would merit an award now.”

As the government continues to move forward in reviewing and overhauling the NHS, the future issue of remuneration and bonuses for GPs & consultants is unlikely to go away. At MPP Locums we understand the changing role of the NHS and provide doctor recruitment - general and specialist locum doctor jobs, medical jobs for NHS Trusts throughout the UK. 

MPP Locums ensures that all doctors are vigorously checked before being placed in key roles. We provide quality staff to our clients and are regulated by the Care Quality Commission and the NHS Buying Solutions. MPP Locums is an approved supplier of locum jobs to the NHS under the National Locum contract starting 1st July 2008 for the next three years.

If you are seeking NHS doctor jobs, doctor jobs, locum doctor jobs, special registrar jobs, SHO jobs contact our registration team by telephone or register on line and be part of the largest and fastest growing specialist medical recruitment agency in the UK.

As the NHS faces its largest shake-up ever, many GPs are still uncertain if the radical reforms proposed by the government would benefit patients, a recent poll suggests. 

The survey carried out by ComRes found that less than a quarter of the 827 doctors surveyed agreed that putting GPs in charge of budgets would lead to a noticeable improvement for patients. 

The findings from the survey support recent criticisms from leading health unions who are concerned on the pace and scale of changes. 

Patient groups said, “Ministers must now work to get health staff on board.”

Under the proposals, GP consortiums are to be created to take on the responsibility for managing local services by 2013. This will see the 10 strategic health authorities and 151 primary care trusts being scrapped in the process. 

However, this radical shake-up of the NHS has caused much concern among many health professionals. 

One of the main concerns is the increasing commercialisation of the NHS. The British Medical Association, Royal College of Nursing, Royal College of GPs and Unison have all expressed concerns in their responses to the official consultation, which ends later this month. Furthermore, unions have warned the government that the proposed changes may threaten the efficiency savings the NHS has to make.

The survey found that 25% of the 827 doctors said, “They would be willing to take on extra responsibility of planning and buying health care for their local populations, with 57% saying they would not and 18% expressing no opinion.”

However under the proposed plan, not every GP will need to be involved in management, so based on the findings, having a quarter of GPs willing to do so could suffice. 

A majority of GPs also felt they were not well prepared to become involved in commissioning care in the following areas – cancer, emergency hospital care, mental health care and paediatrics.

Furthermore, 70% of GPs surveyed thought the changes would lead to a greater role for the private sector.

The main concern from GPs is how the NHS overhaul will benefit patients. Only 23% said it would benefit patients with 45% saying it would not and 32% expressing no opinion.

Katherine Murphy, of the Patients Association, said, “While she has had some concerns about the white paper plans, they also had the potential to benefit patients by empowering them to get more involved in their care.”

On the poll results, she said, “It’s worrying. We need GPs on board for this to work. If they are apathetic we should not go ahead with it, but there is time to deal with the concerns being raised. The government needs to do this.”

Professor Steve Field, president of the Royal College of GPs, said, “Having a quarter willing to take on responsibility for commissioning was not worrying. One of the challenges for the Department of Health is that they now have to go out and talk and work with GPs to get them to better understand how they can influence care.”

A Department of Health spokesperson said, “The questions asked in this survey are misleading about the government’s policy proposals. We are not asking GPs individually to take on commissioning responsibility. However, if a quarter of GPs are prepared to take on the extra responsibility, it’s a powerful indication of the existing willingness to implement our reforms.”

“With two and a half years with which to learn from pathfinder commissioning consortia and establish shadow arrangements, there is ample time for practices that do not yet feel ready to build capability collectively. We intend to put in place support arrangements to help practices develop capability.”

With the government continuing to consult the BMA, Royal College of Nursing, Royal College of GPs and Unison on the NHS white paper reforms, the criticisms will continue until the end of Oct when their responses will be reviewed. As the reforms are pushed through, the role of GPs in this process is certainly set to increase. At MPP Locums we understand the changing role of the NHS and provide doctor recruitment - general and specialist locum doctor jobs, medical jobs for NHS Trusts throughout the UK. 

MPP Locums ensures that all doctors are vigorously checked before being placed in key roles. We provide quality staff to our clients and are regulated by the Care Quality Commission and the NHS Buying Solutions. MPP Locums is an approved supplier of locum jobs to the NHS under the National Locum contract starting 1st July 2008 for the next three years.

If you are seeking NHS doctor jobs, doctor jobs, locum doctor jobs, special registrar jobs, SHO jobs contact our registration team by telephone or register on line and be part of the largest and fastest growing specialist medical recruitment agency in the UK.

NHS reforms are damaging for patients


As the government proceeds with its radical shake-up of the NHS, senior medical leaders warn of potentially damaging reforms for patients. 

The British Medical Associations has urged the government to reconsider what they feel are “slash and burn” policies on the NHS with “arbitrary cuts” and “poorly considered policies”. 

The proposed more market-based approach to healthcare would create waste, bureaucracy and inefficiency and shift the focus onto cost over quality the BMA said. Furthermore, the BMA questioned the value for money of reforms and public spending cuts. 

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley’s White Paper proposals are designed to hand over more powers to GPs, giving them greater control of the multimillion pound budget that is currently being handled by primary care trusts and to give hospitals greater independence.

Since announcing the reforms, critics have said the changes could destabilise the health service. However, The BMA acknowledged there were positive elements of the governments plans such as devolving more control to patients and frontline clinicians, but said other aspects would “undermine the stability and long-term future of the NHS”.

Publishing its response to the “Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS” White Paper, the union said, “That cuts being imposed on the NHS to create savings of 15 to 20 billion pounds would make changes on the scale outlined very challenging.” 

The union also voiced “serious concerns” about plans for all trusts to have foundation status by 2013-14 and warned against “changing the ethos” of NHS provision. 

Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of council of the BMA, said, “There are proposals in the White Paper that doctors can support and want to work with. But there is also much that would be potentially damaging. The BMA has consistently argued that clinicians should have more autonomy to shape services for their patients, but pitting them against each other in a market-based system creates waste, bureaucracy and inefficiency.”

The BMA report sets out a series of concerns, concluding: “There are aspects of the White Paper’s proposals which have the potential to undermine the stability and long-term future of the NHS.”

Consultation on the plans will end later this month, after which ministers are expected to start formal talks with BMA negotiators about implementing the changes. 

In answer to the BMA report, Mr Lansley, said, “We need a healthcare system where the management of the care of patients is combined with an understanding of how resources are used. Healthcare professionals are best placed to do this and know where resource is needed to improve outcomes for patients.”

“The plans would lead to better health care for patients. There are many GPs across the country who are keen to make the transition quickly, others want to know more about how it’s going to work before they implement it.”

“This is what the consultation process is about, everyone coming forward to say how can we make this work,” he said.  

With the government’s White Paper reforms coming under further scrutiny, the debate on ways to improve the NHS will continue with GPs becoming more involved in the consultation process. At MPP Locums we provide doctor recruitment - general and specialist locum doctor jobs, medical jobs for NHS Trusts throughout the UK. 

MPP Locums ensures that all doctors are vigorously checked before being placed in key roles. We provide quality staff to our clients and are regulated by the Care Quality Commission and the NHS Buying Solutions. MPP Locums is an approved supplier of locum jobs to the NHS under the National Locum contract starting 1st July 2008 for the next three years.

If you are seeking NHS doctor jobs, doctor jobs, locum doctor jobs, special registrar jobs, SHO jobs contact our registration team by telephone or register on line and be part of the fastest growing and largest specialist medical recruitment agency in the UK.