The Section of General Practice and Primary Care of Glasgow University hosted an afternoon conference with speakers from across the UK addressing issues to emerge from the nGMS contract. Delegates were treated to an interesting and sometimes controversial exchange of ideas.
Graham Watt, from the University of Glasgow, focused on the Scottish dimension, addressing ‘Improving Quality — the West of Scotland Context.’ With one of the highest rates of poor health and deprivation, staff here were struggling to keep their heads above water. The challenges facing future preventative measures, he argued, were around appropriate targeting, engagement, agreement, support and research, all underpinned by continuing professional development. Overall, the effect on GPs in deprived areas did not appear to be positive, a point later highlighted by Bruce Guthrie.
Martin Roland, director of the National Centre for R&D in Primary Care and expert advisor in the development of the QOF, presented ‘Evidence Based Quality Markers’, discussing the need and use of exception reporting. Despite initial scepticism that GPs would gather ‘points’ by overusing exception reporting, analysis of QMAS data suggested that this had not been the case. He highlighted the perverse effect that 48-hour access indicators had produced, resulting in patients being unable to forward book and …