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#GPnews: CCGs underspending on primary care by £33m

14:55 Alcohol continues to be sold at as little as 16p per unit in the UK, a new study has claimed.

Researchers from the Alcohol Health Alliance (AHA) reported ‘little change’ when it comes to alcohol being sold at ‘pocket money prices’ in supermarkets and off-licences across the UK.

The chairman of the AHA and former president of the Royal College of Physicians, told the Guardian that in spite of the government commitment; ‘harmful drinkers and children are still choosing the cheapest products – predominantly white cider and cheap vodka’.

11:50 The RCGP’s annual conference is well under-way today in Harrogate. Earlier the RCGP chair Dr Maureen Baker told delegates that GP practices could be missing out on millions of pounds by 2020 because plans being devised across England by NHS managers are ploughing money into trusts’ deficits.

Dr Baker also said that if ‘general practice fails, the whole NHS fails’ and that it was time to ‘stand up for ourselves, our students, patients.’ 

Watch a snippet of footage from Dr Baker’s speech below from our reporters at the conference. 



11:05  We’ve got some breaking news this morning on an announcement from NHS England that will see GPs gain access to a free burnout service from January 2017.

GPs will be able to access the free confidential service to provide them with psychotherapy assessment and treatment from January 2017 

Read the full story

9:25 Our top story this morning is Dr Maureen Baker’s final address as chair of the RCGP to conference. She will say that CCGs that commission primary care are set to underspend on general practice by £33 million.

She will also point out that none of the secretive ’Sustainability and Transformation Plans’ – the blueprints for the future of the NHS being drawn up by every region in England – currently detail plans for funding primary care, despite being told by NHS England to commit 15%-20% of its funding to primary care.

Dr Baker claims that this means practices may lose out on £760m – which is 20% of the budget.

Read the full story here.

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