Evaluation of the Choice of GP Practice Pilot, 2012-13

The choice of general practice pilot began in April 2012 for 12 months and allowed patients to choose to seek care from any volunteer general practice in four volunteer Primary Care Trust (PCT) areas of the country (Westminster, Salford, Manchester and Nottingham City) without being restricted by practice boundaries. Patients could either register with a pilot practice as an out of area (OoA) patient, or be seen as a ‘day patient’, while remaining registered with their original practice. The aim of the evaluation was to describe the uptake of the pilot scheme, and give an early indication of its potential costs and benefits for participating practices and patients over a 12-month period, recognising that it would not be possible to quantify costs and benefits definitively over such a short time.