GPs' leader to meet review body on out of hours GPs' committee will be elected by wider franchise Health secretary agrees to revise deputising circular New group will look at public health manpower Consultation document launched on data protection

Abstract

# GPs' leader to meet review body on out of hours {#article-title-2} There was anger at last week's meeting of the General Medical Services Committee at what it saw as slow progress in solving the outstanding issues on out of hours services in general practice. At the February meeting the committee called for a supplementary report from the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration on a separate pricing for out of hours by 16 May. If this was not forthcoming the committee resolved to ballot the profession on the out of hours settlement and to recommend to the BMA council that the review body should resign (24 February, p 465). But when the chairman, Dr Ian Bogle, announced that he had not yet met the review body chairman—a meeting will take place shortly—some speakers called for immediate action. They said that they had sold the September 1995 deal to their constituents on the basis that the out of hours component of their contract would be separately priced. A general practitioner in north London, Dr Laurence Buckman, did not think that the review body was independent. The GMSC had fallen into a trap and was a target for criticism by his constituents. Dr John Canning, who practises in Middlesbrough, urged Dr Bogle to emphasise to the review body how unhappy general practitioners were. “They are in despair, doctors are not going into vocational training schemes, and those who do do not want to be general practitioners.” But other speakers pointed to the progress on the deputising circular and health promotion (see below). Dr Peter Skolar, a …