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It said figures in the Public Accounts Committee's (PAC) report last week on the GMS contract were inaccurate.

The NHS Alliance said that GP numbers had actually grown by 3,000 between 2003 and 2007, or 10 per cent, rather than the 15 per cent reported by the PAC.

The PAC claimed that practice productivity had decreased since the introduction of the new GMS contract. The NHS Alliance said this was based on number of consultations but took no account of quality or patient need.

NHS Alliance chairman Dr Michael Dixon said: ‘The report’s analysis of productivity in general practice is naïve and ill-judged. Some of its figures are to be wrong. Everyone concerned with the welfare and safety of patients must find this extremely worrying.

‘Healthcare cannot be measured in the same way you might measure the production of widgets.

‘The new contract has allowed doctors to provide the best possible quality of care and has improved health inequalities.’

neil.durham@haymarket.com

• Editors' blog: Why practices deserve their 'eye-watering' income increases

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