Fewer than one in four eligible GP practices have signed their PCT-practice agreement under GP Systems of Choice (GPSoC).
Figures published this week by NHS Connecting for Health show that 1,614 practices out of 7,300 practices with a GPSoC deal in England have signed the agreements, nearly six months after they were originally due to be completed.
In NHS South East Coast, none of the 578 eligible practices have signed up. And in London, only 169 practices out of an eligible 1,445 practices have signed their agreement.
CfH said it planned to publish weekly updates on progress, together with the targets set by strategic health authorities for completion of the work.
NHS East of England plans to have the work completed by the end of this month – but so far has signed up just over half of its practices; a total of 273 out of 574 eligible practices.
Deadlines set by the other SHAs for the completion of all agreements fall between the end of December this year and the end of February 2009.
The agreements have been the subject of some controversy among GPs, with some practices reluctant to sign because they fear it will place unworkable restrictions on the kind of third party add-ons they can use in their practices.
However, CfH claims the agreements will benefit practices because they provide greater clarity about the service levels practices can expect from primary care trusts. They also provide PCTs with a means of holding practices to their obligations in respect of proper use and maintenance of IM&T services.
Originally, CfH said it hoped the work would be completed by the end of April 2008; a month after most GP practices in England switched to a GPSoC contract. Practices who do not sign up will no longer be funded by CfH under the GPSoC contractual arrangements, according to the agency.
CfH said it recognised that signing PCT-practice agreements with all GPSoC practices was “a significant task for PCTs” and that PCTs were working closely with practices, Local Medical Committees and other stakeholders to achieve this goal.
The PCT-practice agreement does not apply to practices using a local service provider funded system, although CfH plans to develop an equivalent agreement once the GPSoC PCT-practice agreement has been implemented successfully.
Related articles
Six thousand practices switch to Systems of Choice
Practices urged to complete GPSoC deals
GPs face limits on thid party add-ons