A recent survey has found that GPs estimate that their average drawings will decrease by 8.2 per cent this year, with 85 per cent predicting that their income will fall because of a ‘derisory’ funding award and changes to the 2014/15 GP contract.

According to the survey, GPs have had to take drastic action this year, with 15 per cent of partners saying that they have had to cut back on staff hours between January and April, while 7.5 per cent said they have had to make redundancies in that time.

It also found that doctors believe that their Quality Outcome Framework (QOF) earnings went down by more than £7,000 in 2013/14 due to the Department of Health’s (DH) contract imposition, while at the same time, expenses have skyrocketed.

The findings come after a similar survey in January found that over 80 per cent of GP partners were forced to reduce their drawings in the first six months of working to the 2013/14 GP contract, with average take-home pay dropping by almost 8 per cent.

However, the new findings are on top of these reductions and follow the changes made to the GP contract arrangement for this year, which saw 40 per cent of funding from QOF put into the global sum.

According to the latest research, the funding award of 0.28 per cent from the Doctors and Dentists Review Body (DDRB), changes to the minimum practice income guarantee (MPIG) and higher expenses mean that any benefits of the uplift have been outweighed by reductions.