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Hunt: I am the most pro-GP health secretary for 50 years

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has claimed that he is the most pro-GP health secretary for 50 years, according to leaked minutes from a Whitehall meeting to discuss his plans for a ‘named clinician’ to co-ordinate care for the vulnerable elderly.

The claim was revealed in minutes obtained by health blogger Roy Lilley and published on his blog from the closed meeting that included members of the NHS Alliance, other GPs and the health secretary.

The meeting was held on Tuesday and, as Pulse reported earlier in the week, discussed plans for GPs to ensure out-of-hours services for their most vulnerable elderly patients are of sufficient quality and easily accessible.

It also discussed the contract changes needed to deliver this change - with QOF emerging as a favoured way of ensuring GPs were more involved in their patient’s care out of hours.

The minutes state: ‘Mr Hunt stated that he was the most pro general practice Sec of State for 50 years and made some very positive statements about the importance of general practice and how much it is valued by patients and the population.’

The claim comes after the BMA declared it had no confidence in health secretary Jeremy Hunt, who it said has put the NHS under ‘attack’ in a vote at the BMA Annual Representative Meeting in Edinburgh in June.