GPs should be able to earn extra cash by charging for some treatments in their spare time, a former Oxford medic has suggested.

Oxfordshire’s local medical committee (LMC), which represents NHS GPs in the county, has begun drawing up a system in which doctors can treat and charge patients so as not to conflict with their contractual arrangements with the NHS.

Former Abingdon GP and Oxfordshire LMC chairman Dr Prit Buttar said: “The purpose of this is to get around a ridiculous restriction that stops GPs charging their own patients for stuff, even if the NHS doesn’t fund it.
“I’m an ex-surgeon and I can do minor cosmetic work and other procedures, which aren’t available on the NHS, but I’m not allowed to charge my patients for it.”

To get around the problem the LMC has proposed that GPs offer services to patients through a third-party company, which would take payment from patients and pay GPs for their time.

Contraceptive fittings, minor operations and appointments on Saturdays and Sundays are among the services that could be paid for, with a mole removal likely to cost between £100 and £200.

Dr Buttar said: “Through this mechanism, people who would have to pay for treatment anyway can get it with someone they know and trust. It is stupid we have to resort to these sorts of gymnastics to get around the rule.”

The scheme was borne out of frustration with a lack of Government funding in primary care.

GP practice funding per patient per year is at £146 nationally but in Oxfordshire, a relatively expensive county, this drops to £92.

Dr Buttar said: “That’s less than two tanks of fuel, or six months’ worth of Sky subscriptions. 

“That’s why Deer Park in Witney is closing and Kennington is falling over. It’s a grossly inadequate sum.”

It is hoped that such a scheme could be introduced by the end of 2017 and rolled out elsewhere in the country.

Dr Buttar, who retired from the Abingdon Surgery after 16 years last December, said: “We have consulted GPs across the country via the LMC. There has been guarded interest. Some are very against it because they feel it strikes at the foundation of the NHS, but there comes a time when you get fed up of waiting for jam tomorrow. You do whatever you need to do to make your practice sustainable and viable.”

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, the BMA’s General Practitioners Committee chairman, said: “Irrespective of this scheme and its aims, the immediate priority is for Government to address the incredible pressure on GP services, which is facing a shortage of several thousand doctors.”