The Department of Health’s practice-based commissioning (PBC) initiative is still not supported by four in 10 GPs, a survey shows.
The latest research shows that 62% of GPs back the scheme compared with 64% last quarter and 62% the previous quarter, and 20% are neutral. More than a quarter of practices still do not have an indicative budget.
Nevertheless, half of practices have commissioned services as a direct result of PBC, the survey reveals, and 62% have submitted a business case to redesign their own service.
Meanwhile, although two-thirds of practices have agreed a plan, only 58% are confident that this will improve services.
Nine out of 10 practices are part of a PBC group, and 76% of these say they are “very” or “fairly” involved in the activity of their group.
Three-quarters of practices (74%) say they have now received an incentive scheme from their primary care trust, which is a significant increase on previous quarters.
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