Talking at the Nene Commissioning Conference in Kettering, Northamptonshire, on Tuesday, Dr Mo Dewji, the DoH’s national primary care lead for QIPP (quality, innovation, productivity and prevention), said that GP leadership 'does not equate to having to do the spreadsheets'. 

He said: 'We already run businesses to a certain extent, but I am sure most GPs don’t actually look after the accounts of their own practices, they employ someone to do it.

'The two don’t equate: that if you are actually going to get a budget does not mean that you have to look after the pounds, shillings and pence of every part of it.'

Dr Dewji said that when PCTs reduce in number, some may have off-shoots to deliver ‘some sort of help and support’ to GP commissioners.

He added: 'There may well be other commissioning groups around the country that are already saying: "Actually, we do this really well and we would like to make sure it is clinically, and more importantly, primary care-driven. We do it well in primary care… and we would like to sell our services to other parts of the country". I am sure it is that way around as opposed to us having to physically do it.'

Health White Paper 'Liberating the NHS' will be published on Monday afternoon. Check Healthcare Republic for the breaking headlines and in-depth analysis of what it means for GPs.