By Alisdair Stirling
A quarter of GPs do not have confidence in the heads of their local consortium, and fewer than half believe their leaders have a democratic mandate, a Pulse survey has found.
Our snapshot poll of 450 GPs highlights a growing conflict between grassroots GPs and consortium leaders, with a third of respondents reporting tensions in their consortium.
The findings come after a number of rows between GPs and consortium leaders. Last month, Pulse revealed that GPs in Buckinghamshire and Berkshire had accused a number of consortia of pushing ahead without a democratic mandate.
Asked whether they had confidence in their own consortium's leadership, just 37% of respondents said yes. GPs were split on the crucial question of whether their leaders had a democratic mandate, with 38% saying yes and 37% no.
One GP, who asked not to be named, said her county-wide consortium had been formed with little grassroots input.
‘There has been no consultation at practice level,' she said.