Doctors’ leaders have condemned proposals for “exorbitant” increases in Care Quality Commission fees charged to GPs.

The fee increases will hit small practices hardest.

A practice with one location and up to 10,000 patients will see a seven-fold increase in fees in two years, according to the British Medical Association. This will mean them paying some £4,839 in annual fees.

Medium-sized NHS trusts will see a three times increase in fees – facing a charge of more than £215,000 in two years’ time.

BMA chair Dr Mark Porter accused the Care Quality Commission of failing to explain why the increases are needed.

He said: “This is a cynical set of proposals that will force parts of the NHS to hand over large chunks of their budgets to the CQC without any evidence of a positive benefit to patients.

“This comes at a time when the NHS is under unprecedented pressure, trying to find the 2-3% efficiency savings demanded by the Government while attempting to cope with increasing patient demand on inadequate funding and staffing levels.”

He added: “Everyone in the medical profession wants an effective regulatory system that maintains patient safety, but this will not be achieved by these flawed proposals.”

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