This article is the subject of a complaint on behalf of Capita Plc



A former health minister has condemned blunders that the British Medical Association believes has left hundreds of GP trainees in the lurch after not being paid their salaries.

Norman Lamb demanded on Friday that the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, investigate how some young doctors have been forced to rely on charity handouts.

“This is clearly an absolutely unacceptable situation. Leaving hardworking doctors unpaid at the end of the month is a humiliating blunder. The government should be ashamed that this has been allowed to happen on their watch,” said the Liberal Democrat MP, a health minister in the coalition from 2012 to 2015.

“Hunt must agree to undertake a thorough assessment of how this was allowed to happen, and what other errors have occurred since Capita took on this contract. Ultimately if the government cannot give hardworking NHS staff a guarantee that this will not happen again, they clearly need to reassess their decision to commission out this service. I will be writing to Jeremy Hunt to request that he undertakes this review,” Lamb added.

He was responding to the Guardian’s disclosure on Thursday that, according to the BMA, Capita’s failure to pay trainees their salaries, which is a key responsibility under the terms of its NHS contract to provide GPs in England with support for key tasks in running their practice, has left some struggling to pay their mortgages.

Capita administers training grants for trainee GPs in the Thames Valley, Yorkshire and the Humber and half of Wessex through Primary Care Services England, as part of the contract it was awarded in 2015 to carry out a range of functions by NHS England. Capita denies being responsible for the delays and says it has not failed to reimburse any trainee GP salaries in the three areas.

The Royal College of GPs also lambasted Capita for the delays, which it called a “hammer blow” that is increasing stress and anxiety among key members of the NHS workforce.

“We are dismayed and deeply concerned about this disgraceful situation. Many trainees already face financial hardship during their years of studying at medical school and many of them have families, mortgages, and huge financial responsibilities,” said Prof Helen Stokes-Lampard, the college’s chair.

“This is a hammer blow that is adding to their stress and anxiety, made all the worse by the fact that it’s unnecessary and avoidable.”

She intends to write to Capita and Primary Care Services England demanding answers about why the payments were missed and urging them to rectify the problems as a matter of urgency.

“Our GP trainees are the future of the NHS. They need all the support they can get in these difficult times and the college will do everything we can to fight their corner and make sure they receive the money that is rightfully theirs,” Stokes-Lampard added.

Capita said that in cases where there were outstanding payments it was chasing details of trainee GPs in parts of Wessex and for some practices in Thames Valley and Humber and that salaries would be reimbursed immediately as soon as they were received.

A spokeswoman for Capita said: “Where we have been given all the information in these two and a half areas we have reimbursed these practices. We can’t reimburse any money when we don’t have any information on who we need to reimburse that money to. To suggest there is a backlog of our own making is completely inaccurate.”

NHS England, which awarded Capita the contract, said it was doing everything it could to ensure trainee GPs receive salary payments regularly and that those awaiting funds get them soon.



An NHS England spokesperson said: “We are holding Capita’s ‘feet to the fire’ on needed improvements, and in the meantime, the lead employer for Health Education England or the GP practice are responsible for paying their GP trainee salaries and are subsequently reimbursed for this. Backlogs are being prioritised by Capita.”

• This article was amended on 6 November 2017 following a complaint from Capita to clarify that it is disputed that delays to GP trainee salary payments are the result of errors by Capita.