A SPECIALIST solicitor has warned that huge numbers of GPs could retire from the profession as a result of sweeping changes to the healthcare system.

Alison Oliver, of Crutes Law Firm, which has offices in Newcastle and Stockton, said that many GPs were fed up with the number of changes affecting their profession and were considering retiring early.

It comes as a Lords debate on a controversial health Bill is set to have its second reading in the House of Lords today.

While the Health and Social Care Bill has come under attack from health professionals, other changes, such as the Hutton Report, which sets out proposals for reform of public service pension schemes, are also likely to hit GPs on a personal level.

Healthcare specialist Ms Oliver, speaking at a seminar organised by Crutes and the financial services firm RMT, said: “Over the next few years there will be significant changes facing the profession, ranging from the introduction of a new GP contract and revalidation system, to Care Quality Commission registration and additional responsibilities for GPs as commissioners of health services.”

Keith Taylor, head of RMT Medical Services, which represents more than 650 GPs predominantly based in the North-East, said: “The forthcoming changes that will have an effect on GPs are huge.

“We are forecasting major issues for several GPs and it is imperative that they are prepared for those difficult times.”

In the letter to every peer in the House of Lords last week, the BMA’s chairman Dr Hamish Meldrum said that the health Bill would “make it harder to create the seamless, efficient care that everyone agrees is key to future sustainability.

“ The BMA said it recognised that some significant amendments had already been made to the Bill in the light of some of its concerns, and that some of the proposals, such as giving more control to clinicians and patients, could create positive change in the health service.

However, Dr Meldrum added: “On balance, the BMA still believes the Bill, as it currently stands, poses an unacceptably high risk to the NHS in England.”

About 400 public health experts have also put their names to a letter protesting that the proposals – which aim to open up more services to private companies and the voluntary sector – will put patient safety at risk, waste money and damage trust in the medical profession.