7:36am UK, Wednesday December 15, 2010
Controversial health plans which will give family doctors control of an £80bn NHS budget will come a step closer later.
The Department of Health will announce the results of its consultation over the reforms, which have split the medical profession.
From April 2013, GPs will have to group together to form Commissioning Consortia, with budgets to pay for their patients care in the community or hospital.
London GP Dr Gary Marlowe opposes the reforms and said doctors should think only about their patient's care - not pounds and pence.
He told Sky News: "It is inevitable that patients will begin to be suspicious that we are making decisions at least with an eye towards our budgets and not fully focused on their health care."
But GPs caring for a quarter of the population have so far formed groups to test out the government plans.
Among them is Surrey GP Dr Graham Tyrrell, who is part of the Guildford and Waverley Commissioning Group.
As a prototype of the government's Consortia, he and his colleagues invested in community matrons to make regular home visits to patients most likely to deteriorate and need emergency care.
Hospital admissions have fallen sharply, saving £1.7m in a year.
Proponents believe some plans will free up more hospital beds
Dr Tyrrell said: "If you get them early, they get better quickly - obviously hospital needs to be used appropriately.
"If you can prevent some patients going into hospital, keep them at home, it's making available those beds that would otherwise be occupied."
The Surrey GPs have worked with the company Integrated Health Partners to shape their service.
Dr Oliver Bernath - a former neurologist - said new ways of thinking can make the NHS more efficient.
"There is no rocket science involved. We haven't invented new ways to treat patients," Dr Bernath said.
"We used well known management principles and were tight on getting things done. If that helps to get savings and better care for patients, that sounds like a win-win for everybody," he said.
But the British Medical Association says private companies have no place in the NHS.
It also warns it is unrealistic to expect GPs to take over budgets in 2013, adding the reforms need proper testing to safeguard public money.
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