Now doctors threaten to quit NHS and go private

FAMILY doctors have threatened to quit the NHS and go private in protest at pressures on the Health Service.

The issue will be debated at the British Medical Association’s local medical committees conference in London next week.

But a motion by the Bedfordshire committee, revealed yesterday by GP magazine Pulse, said: ‘Given that a number of GPs genuinely feel they can no longer operate within the NHS, conference calls on General Practice Committee England to look at how these GPs can be supported to operate within a private, alternative model.’

Insiders played down the significance of the motion, insisting there would be no exodus from the NHS. But it highlights the growing rift between doctors and health bosses over pay and conditions.

The dispute comes despite GPs earning starting salaries of up to £45,000, while practice partners can expect to earn an average of £106,000 a year.

A spokesman for the BMA said: ‘General practice is under unsustainable and mounting pressure from rising demand, contracting budgets and staff shortages.’