ENRICHING CAREERS IN GENERAL-PRACTICE .5. COULD THE RIGHT CONTRACT IMPROVE MORALE

Many general practitioners still blame the 1990 contract for the problems in general practice, claiming it has reduced morale to levels of the 1950s and 1960s. The contract was introduced to improve the quality of care and to provide some measures of standards, but the government failed to convince general practitioners that the contract was what the profession needed. Further change seems inevitable. Ideally a contract should improve efficiency, enable rationale planning, and ensure public accountability. This article gives the history of the 1990 contract and discusses changes which could be made towards reaching this ideal.