The
Government has met its target for the number of GPs who now work flexibly.
More
than 30 per cent – 93,000 – of all GPs have signed up to 2,500 schemes
promoting flexible working contracts.
The
NHS Plan proposed that nearly a third of GPs would be working to the Personal
Medical Services (PMS) scheme by the end of this year.
This
encourages flexible working and reduces bureaucracy. PMS contracts are locally
driven, allowing professionals to directly negotiate their terms of contract
according to local demands.
This
has encouraged more GPs to move to the areas where they are needed most.
In
some areas practices have been restructured or are working together.
Health
Minister John Hutton said: "PMS is evidence of our continuing commitment
to modernise General Practice by focusing on the needs of patients and offering
more choice and flexibility to GPs in how they work."
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PMS
is a flexible alternative to the traditional General Medical Services (GMS)
contract, which GPs have worked under for the past 50 years and which is
currently being renegotiated.
