GBP618,000 spent on cover for GPs busy reorganising NHS.

(From Nottingham Evening Post)

Byline: Dominic Howell Health Correspondent dominic.howell@nottinghampostgroup.co.uk

HEALTH chiefs in Notts have spent GBP618,000 on cover for doctors while they are busy setting up new organisations as part of Government health reforms.

The recentlys approved Health and Social Care Bill gives GPs and other clinicians more responsibility for spending the NHS budget in England.

The bill, which was criticised by many health professionals but became law on March 27, will see primary care trusts dismantled by 2013 and the responsibilities for planning and paying for health care taken up by commissioning groups of …