By Laura Passi
Exclusive: GPs will be forced to take a series of undesirable measures to control costs after last week's tough pay deal for the coming financial year, including cutting hours or even making redundancies.
More than a third of GPs told a Pulse survey they planned to pursue ‘lower-grade recruitment', following warnings from accountants last week that the deal would amount to a pay cut of 1-4%. A quarter of GPs will be forced to consider reducing staff hours while 14% said they were prepared to make redundancies.
Dr Rizwana Noor, a GP in Enfield, north London, said: ‘When you're looking at the cost, you might bring in somebody who is less experienced, thinking they will gain that over time.'
Some 26% said they would follow advice from the GPC and medical accountants, by looking to take on more private work.
GPs forced to cut staff GP contract 2011/12Click here for a detailed analysis of this year's contract deal
