Scottish GPs choose to lose GPASS

Large numbers of practices have indicated that they want to move away from the Scottish GP computer system GPASS as part of the Scottish Executive’s new deal on system choice.

The deadline for practices that want to change IT system provider is October 31, under the deal on system choice which was agreed between the Scottish Executive Health Department (SEHD) and the Scottish General Practitioners Committee earlier in the year.

About 85 per cent of practices in Scotland currently use GPASS but the system has been the subject of much criticism from the GP profession.

A spokesman for Grampian NHS Board said 52 out of 84 practice in the board area use GPASS – of which 30 had expressed an interest in an NHS Grampian business case to allow for system choice.

Practices have to make a business case to support their wish to move and can do so at a practice, health community or NHS board level.

In Tayside 60 out of 72 practices use GPASS and 50 practices have so far indicated a desire to change system according to a spokesperson for NHS Tayside. She said a single business was was being developed by the local medical committee on behalf of all Tayside practices.

Dr Stuart Scott, chairman of the Scottish GPC’s IT sub-committee, told EHI Primary Care that many practices wished to move away from GPASS: "There is a considerable amount of dissatisfaction with GPASS as a product."

However Dr Scott said their ability to do so would be limited by the funding available at NHS board level. He said that information on the cost of GPASS to NHS Scotland had also still not been published.

GP representatives in Scotland have been pressing the cost of GPASS to be released so that practices can compare this with the cost of other systems, when preparing a business case for system changes.

This year’s Scottish local medical committees’ conference passed a motion calling for SGPC to act on the ‘grave concerns of GPs regarding the current state of IT that practices are having to cope with.’ A survey by the GPASS user group earlier this year, completed by 305 practices, found that 57% said they were unhappy with GPASS, and 45% said that given finance, they would be prepared to change system.

A spokesperson for the SEHD said no national figures were available yet on the number of practices wishing to move systems as expressions of interest were still being gathered by NHS boards. She added: "Until we have received the expressions of interest of who wants to change systems at the end of October we won’t have a picture of what is happening nationally."

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