Changes to data since the introduction of the new GMS contract

Changes in terminology

The introduction of the new GMS contract on 1st April 2004 has brought a number of changes to the information collected by ISD and in turn this affects the analysis that we can provide.

As a result of the new legislation, all GPs are now termed 'Performers' (see Glossary for further details). For the purposes of analysis on these pages we have broken this down further into subcategories of:

• Performer (GP performers that are not salaried, retainees or registrars)
• Performer salaried
• Performer retainee
• Performer registrar

It is important to note that these subcategories are not legal entities, but that they are included in the analysis to give some extra detail and to enable consistency with trend information.

The table below shows the mapping of old to new terminology for GPs:

Old term	Equivalent new term
Unrestricted principal equivalent (UPE)	Performer
Restricted principal	Performer
Associate	Performer salaried
Assistant	Performer salaried
Salaried GP (in GMS)	Performer salaried
PMS other	Performer salaried
GMS other	Performer salaried
GP registrar	Performer registrar
Retainee	Performer retainee

Additionally, there is now a type of GP termed 'Paediatric fellow', which is counted under Performer salaried GP.  This term did not exist under the old groupings.

GP Whole Time Equivalent (WTE)

For years prior to 2004, ISD hold data on the numbers of Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) GPs in addition to data on headcounts. Since 1st April 2004, very little equivalent information has been received by ISD, as this is not a key element of information relating to the new GMS contract. Therefore, we are no longer able to provide detailed information on WTE numbers of clinicians working in general practices. Information is recorded on headcounts only for 2005 onwards.  However, ISD's workforce team carried out some modelling on the available data, taking into account trends over time and the relationship between headcount and WTE in previous years, to ESTIMATE a WTE number of GPs at Scotland level into 2005 only. These data are available on the workforce pages.

Practice Staff

Up until late 2003, NHS Board-level counts of the numbers of practice staff (including practice nurses) employed by general medical practitioners were supplied to ISD by NHS Boards, as part of the data forms ISD(M)8GMS and ISD(M)8PMS. Since the introduction of the new General Medical Services contract on 1st April 2004, supply of data on practice nurses is no longer mandatory. There is no obligation or direct incentive for practices to submit this information to a national database, and as a consequence ISD has received very little information on practice staff since then. Trend information on practice staff  for years up to 2003 is available within this release.