General practice

Almost all general practices in England that treat NHS or privately funded patients are independent organisations.

Contractual arrangements between independent general practices and the NHS have been in place since the 1940s, and it is possible to argue general practice has been one of the longest-standing and most successful public-private partnerships in the history of UK public services.

More recently, there has been growth in the number of privately funded general practices, classed by the CQC as independent doctors. Because the healthcare they provide is quite different to NHS provision, comparative information is not available.

932 independent doctors have been rated by the CQC of which 94% are good or outstanding. As noted above, this represents around half of this category.

IHPN has been working with the CQC and our members to identify ways to measure quality that are appropriate for this sector. As the new leadership at the CQC is appointed over the course of the coming year, we look forward to working closely with the CQC on the oversight of this group.