Lack of disability involvement calls GP commissioning into question

19 May 2011 1 min read Joe Lepper Health Disabled children and young people

Only a quarter of parents with disabled children have GPs involved in their children's care, sparking concerns that doctors may not be best placed to commission specialist health services.

A survey by the charity Contact a Family found that 76 per cent of families with disabled children have no GP involvement in their child’s condition.

The charity says the results bring into question whether GPs will be able to effectively commission specialist disability healthcare for children when they take over local health budgets should the Health and Social Care Bill become law.

Srabani Sen, chief executive of Contact a Family, said: "If government proposals to give GPs control over commissioning go ahead, how are they going to plan for disabled children, who are often highly dependent on health services, when the majority have no involvement in their care?"

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