David Ruffley MP will be meeting with executive partners at Stowhealth on Friday 8 June to discuss concerns regarding the Personal Medical Services (PMS) contract offer from Suffolk Primary Care Trust.

46 of the 69 GP practices in Suffolk are currently signed up to the PMS contact.

GPs in the county have rejected the latest contract offer from Suffolk PCT which would see practices performing additional services, such as minor surgery, in return for no extra funding.

David said:

'GPs in Suffolk have rejected Suffolk PCT's latest contract offer as unacceptable.

'They have concerns over the move of a number of clinical practices from hospitals to GP surgeries and have expressed doubts about whether practices have the skills and expertise to do them.

'In addition the proposed changes to the payment system could see GPs in Stowmarket lose the extra funding they currently receive for providing extra services such as contraception implant removal and child protection training. In the new contract offer from Suffolk PCT GP surgeries are asked to perform these as part of their core contract.

'I want to ensure that practices will not suffer a sudden, and damaging, fall in funding as a result of this new contract.

'If surgeries are forced to make service cuts due to a drop in the amount of money they receive from the PCT this will have a disastrous impact on people in Stowmarket who will be forced to travel further and wait longer for the care they require.

'I am looking forward to my meeting with the Executive Partners and Business Manager at Stowhealth and will be listening to their concerns about the latest PMS contract offer and how they feel it will impact on people living in Stowmarket.'