GPSurvival Press Release re CQC Inspection Fees
31/3/2016
The CQC has announced the outcome of its ‘consultation exercise’ over practice inspection-fee increases. Far from consulting the profession though, they have unilaterally imposed a rapid escalation of fees that GPs have to pay in order to be inspected by the CQC.
The average GP surgery will therefore pay an additional £2000 for the ‘pleasure’ of hosting a CQC inspection from this April, and then the fees will rise to an obscene seven-fold-increase-from-baseline by 2018, meaning that a practice with 5-10,000 patients will pay £4389 to be inspected. This will needlessly divert money that could otherwise be spent on patient services.
It is difficult to know what the point of a ‘consultation-exercise’ is, when the outcome is so contrary to what the profession needs. As with the Junior Doctor contract dispute, the machinery of government is guilty of pressing ahead with deeply unpopular and costly change that is totally lacking in an evidence-base or grassroots-support.
With General Practices failing to make ends meet and going bust, up and down the country, this will be a further nail in the coffin of NHS General Practice.
The profession spoke with one voice (at the Special LMC conference in January) and demanded that the CQC inspection in its current form be completely abolished. What we get instead, is “imposition”.
Our voice is not being heard. Clearly it is time not just for words, but for actions.