GP leader attacks CCGs for £30m underspend

The chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners has lambasted those in charge of transforming primary care in England for failing to lay down plans to improve services for patients.

Maureen Baker described clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) as a “national disgrace” for underspending their budgets by more than £30m ($38m; €34m) and ignoring the needs of primary care. She also attacked those in charge of the NHS’s new sustainability and transformation plans (STPs) for marginalising general practice and diverting funds to plug the deficits in acute care hospital trusts.

Speaking at the royal college’s annual conference in Harrogate, Yorkshire, on 6 October, Baker said that an analysis by the college had found that CCGs were on course …