Junior doctors’ pay to be protected in Scotland

‘Radical changes’ to the primary care system in Scotland will scrap the levels of bureaucracy around GP payments and protect junior doctors pay, Scottish Health Secretary Shona Robison has announced.

Speaking at the UK conference of the Royal College of General Practice (RCGP) in Glasgow, Robison condemned her UK counterpart Jeremy Hunt for recently-announced proposals to cut GP trainees’ pay in England.

“In Scotland, I can give you a cast-iron guarantee that we will not be following his plans to cut junior doctors’ pay,” she said.

Robison said work on dismantling Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) system of funding general practice had already begun in consultation with the BMA.

The system has been criticised for being too bureaucratic, where payments are based on an itemised list of services provided.

“QOF has delivered many innovations but its time is past. Scotland’s GPs need a new and different future, starting from 2016,” she said.

This is earlier than the new Scottish GP contract, scheduled for April 2017, which will see a greater focus on multidisciplinary teams.

The BMA described the announcement as “significant step” towards redesigning general practice in Scotland.

Scottish GPs committee chair Alan McDevitt said: “This bold move by the Cabinet Secretary is part of the reinvigoration of general practice in Scotland. It will have a positive effect on practices, by reducing workload and bureaucracy, allowing GPs to focus on the complex care needs of their patients.”