Devon MP’s victory over ‘unfair’ GP funding

National review underway

The way in which GP services are funded across the country is to be reviewed after a Devon MP’s campaign to scrap an ‘unfair’ funding formula.

Newton Abbot Liberal Democrat MP Martin Wrigley took aim at the Carr-Hill Formula, which is used to work out how much each GP surgery receives in funding.

Its aim is to direct funds to surgeries based on their predicted workload, but Mr Wrigley told a Westminster debate that the system was ‘complex, obscure and insufficient’.

The formula was, he said, “designed for a different era”.

He told the debate: “It weighs patient numbers and postcodes but underrates deprivation, multi-morbidity and today’s population health priorities.

“In my constituency, the Buckland surgery looks after some 4,000 patients on its list but is effectively funded for 3,200.

“The system is broken, and we need to change it.”

Health minister Stephen Kinnock said the formula was outdated and not fit for purpose. The government has now announced that it will be reviewed.

Mr Kinnock went on: “The government remains fully committed to ensuring that GP funding in the south-west reflects the region’s particular challenges and needs. Through investment in the workforce and infrastructure, we aim to deliver a sustainable, high-quality primary care service for all.”

After the debate Mr Wrigley said he had been ‘flabbergasted’ when Mr Kinnock said the government would look to change the Carr-Hill Formula.

He said local surgeries had told him they could not afford to hire the GPs they needed, and may have to hand their contracts back. One had even been close to declaring itself bankrupt.

Changing the formula would be ‘a real win’ for Newton Abbot, he added.

“Buckland surgery will get, perhaps, £90,000, and that’s another GP. It’s a fantastic result.”