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All GPs should be aware of GMC's Good Medical Practice and relevant guidance. So if patient care could be compromised by these financial incentives which are "appallingly unethical"[1], then individual GPs should bear full responsibility for their conduct. Chair of the Council has already made the GMC's position clear. I do not think it is the GMC's role to "bring pressure"[1] on a group of doctors who should be well aware of the consequences of breaching Good Medical Practice. As a trade union, if the BMA feels so strongly about this issue, then they should write to their GP members expressing their concerns and oppose participation in such schemes.
Re: BMA consults GMC about cash incentives to GPs to cut patient care
All GPs should be aware of GMC's Good Medical Practice and relevant guidance. So if patient care could be compromised by these financial incentives which are "appallingly unethical"[1], then individual GPs should bear full responsibility for their conduct. Chair of the Council has already made the GMC's position clear. I do not think it is the GMC's role to "bring pressure"[1] on a group of doctors who should be well aware of the consequences of breaching Good Medical Practice. As a trade union, if the BMA feels so strongly about this issue, then they should write to their GP members expressing their concerns and oppose participation in such schemes.
References
[1]BMJ 2012;345:e6445
Competing interests: No competing interests