A quarter of GPs surveyed think their consortium will be ready to take on full commissioning responsibility by April 2013

A snapshot of GPs in England shows that while many are involved in commissioning decisions to some extent, only a quarter think that their consortium will be ready to take on full commissioning responsibility by April 2013

Views are split on the government’s plans for clinically-led commissioning; two in five think it will be worse for patients that GP-led commissioning but 28% think it will be better and the same proportion think it will make no difference

A new survey of GPs in England for KPMG by Ipsos shows that just a quarter (25%) of the GPs surveyed believe their consortium will be ready to take on full commissioning responsibility by April 2013. Half of GPs say their consortium will ready for full commissioning responsibility by April 2014 and a further 10% by the following year.

Half (46%) expect to be in a position to take on shadow budgets by April 2013 – with a quarter (23%) expecting to be able to take on shadow budgets by April 2012. Three in ten say they “don’t know” when their consortia will be ready to take on shadow budgets or full commissioning responsibility (29% and 32% respectively).

On balance, the GPs surveyed believe that the government’s revised plans for clinically-led commissioning will be worse for patients than its original proposals for GP-led commissioning. Just under two in five (37%) say it will be worse for patients. However, a significant minority (28%) say it will be better for patients than GP commissioning and the same proportion believe it will make no difference (28%).

Half of the GPs surveyed have already factored in QIPP (Quality, innovation, Productivity and Prevention) into their consortia plans for 2011/12 (53%). However, three in ten GPs say they “don’t know” if QIPP has been considered in their plans (29%).

Financial expertise (40%) and care pathway re-design (36%) are considered to be the most important areas of expertise for consortia over the next 12 months, according to the GPs surveyed. Expertise in commissioning strategy (27%) is also seen as important. Other important areas are contracting (22%), performance management (21%) and health needs assessment (20%).

Most GP practices are actively involved in the commissioning decisions of their consortia. A third (34%) of GPs surveyed say that over three-quarters of the practices in their consortium are regularly involved in commissioning decisions, while around one in five (18%) say that under a quarter are regularly involved. Two in five (38%) of the surveyed GPs say they are personally involved in commissioning decisions. However, three in five (60%) say they are either not very (37%) or not at all involved (23%).

Download the topline results (PDF)

Download the charts (PDF)

Technical details

One hundred GPs practising in England were surveyed online on the 4th July 2011. Quotas were set by region to ensure a representative spread, and interviews were conducted across a range of sizes of consortium. Where percentages do not sum to 100, this may be due to computer rounding, the exclusion of “don’t know” categories, or multiple answers.