Agenda item

“This Council notes that in spite of repeatedly advertising vacancies, the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group has been unable to recruit enough GPs and other clinical staff to meet local need.

Many patients now have to wait for at least 4 weeks for a non-emergency appointment with their GP. This is in part due to the difficulty of attracting GP’s to serve in rural areas, especially where house prices are high and GP premises require significant investment. It is a problem shared with other counties, and is acknowledged by the SPARSE Rural Group of the Rural Services Network, which  has given backing to a proposal to offer GPs a “rural weighting” as part of their remuneration.  Similar to the accepted practice of ‘London weighting’, such a scheme would aim to attract the needed physicians and in turn facilitate better provision of health services across the county.

This Council believes that a “rural weighting” is needed in order to attract GPs to the county and relieve pressure on accident and emergency services.  This Council therefore asks the Leader of the Council to request Oxfordshire MPs to lobby the Secretary of State for Health to introduce a scheme of ‘rural weighting’ for GPs who accept positions in rural counties such as Oxfordshire.”

Councillor Leffman moved and Councillor Rooke seconded the following Motion:

“This Council notes that in spite of repeatedly advertising vacancies, the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group has been unable to recruit enough GPs and other clinical staff to meet local need.

Many patients now have to wait for at least 4 weeks for a non-emergency appointment with their GP. This is in part due to the difficulty of attracting GP’s to serve in rural areas, especially where house prices are high and GP premises require significant investment. It is a problem shared with other counties, and is acknowledged by the SPARSE Rural Group of the Rural Services Network, which  has given backing to a proposal to offer GPs a “rural weighting” as part of their remuneration.  Similar to the accepted practice of ‘London weighting’, such a scheme would aim to attract the needed physicians and in turn facilitate better provision of health services across the county.

This Council believes that a “rural weighting” is needed in order to attract GPs to the county and relieve pressure on accident and emergency services.  This Council therefore asks the Leader of the Council to request Oxfordshire MPs to lobby the Secretary of State for Health to introduce a scheme of ‘rural weighting’ for GPs who accept positions in rural counties such as Oxfordshire.”

Councillor Brighouse moved and Councillor Price seconded the following amendment in bold italics and strikethrough:

“This Council notes that in spite of repeatedly advertising vacancies, the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group has been unable to recruit enough GPs and other clinical staff to meet local need.

Many patients now have to wait for at least 4 weeks for a non-emergency appointment with their GP. This is in part due to the difficulty of in attracting GP’s to serve in rural areas Oxfordshire, especially where house prices are high. and GP premises require significant investment. It is a problem shared with other counties, and is acknowledged by the SPARSE Rural Group of the Rural Services Network, which  has given backing to a proposal to offer GPs a “rural weighting” as part of their remuneration.  Similar to the accepted practice of ‘London weighting’, such a scheme Oxfordshire although a rural County has all the challenges in recruiting staff due to the cost of living as exists in London. Introducing a weighting scheme such as operates in London would aim to attract the much needed physicians and in turn facilitate better provision of health services across the County.

This Council believes that a “rural weighting” this is needed in order to attract GPs and other clinicians to the county and so relieve pressure on Accident and Emergency Services.  This Council therefore asks the Leader of the Council to request Oxfordshire MPs to lobby the Secretary of State for Health to introduce a “London Weighting” type  scheme of ‘rural weighting’ for GPs and clinical staff  who accept positions in rural counties such as Oxfordshire.”

Following debate, the amendment was put to the vote and was carried by 48 votes to 10.

The substantive motion as amended was put to the vote and was agreed unanimously.

RESOLVED:  (Unanimous)

“This Council notes that in spite of repeatedly advertising vacancies, the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group has been unable to recruit enough GPs and other clinical staff to meet local need.

Many patients now have to wait for at least 4 weeks for a non-emergency appointment with their GP. This is in part due to the difficulty in attracting GP’s to serve in Oxfordshire, where house prices are high. Oxfordshire although a rural County has all the challenges in recruiting staff due to the cost of living as exists in London. Introducing a weighting scheme such as operates in London would attract the much needed physicians and in turn facilitate better provision of health services across the County.

This Council believes that this is needed to attract GPs and other clinicians to the county and so relieve pressure on Accident and Emergency Services.  This Council therefore asks the Leader of the Council to request Oxfordshire MPs to lobby the Secretary of State for Health to introduce a “London Weighting” type scheme for GPs and clinical staff  who accept positions in Oxfordshire.”