From James Dillon, director of Practice Index
The latest proposal to increase fees payable to the Care Quality Commission for primary care registration by 567% is appalling.
According to many of the practice managers we work with at Practice Index this will financially cripple many primary care providers and will negatively impact upon service provision. Practices will be forced to close branch surgeries in order to move down a bracket in the fee structure, i.e. pay less fees for one site rather than two. Practices will have no option but to cut services and personnel in order to meet the extortionate fee currently being suggested. Such an action would be damaging to the patient/doctor relationship and would discriminate against the most vulnerable patients. Those with disabilities, elderly patients, or those too ill to travel to other branch sites would be hardest hit. This would conflict with the CQC commitment to ensure ’that people receive safe, effective, compassionate and high quality care.’
We know this is a major concern for practices. A blog on this issue on our site by PM Nicola Hayward has been our most popular to date and a petition has already gathered almost 1,000 signatures. We are therefore urgently calling for a review of the primary care registration fees structure. A rise in fees of 567% is not justified in any way.
