Massive changes backed by family doctors.

FAMILY doctors yesterday voted in favour of a massive GP shake-up aimed at improving patient care.

An overwhelming 79.4 per cent backed changes to give them more control over their workload.

It is hailed as the best hope of stopping under- pressure GPs from quitting the job and of recruiting more doctors to empty posts.

In the biggest upheaval to their work since the 1960s, the contract spells out what GPs are expected to do and pays them for that work.

Pay will rise by an average of 26 per cent in the next three years - putting top earners on more than pounds 80,000.

For the first time, practices will be paid for delivering quality care and will be based on the needs of the area rather than the number of GPs and patients on their list.

Doctors can opt-out of some services, such as immunisation, and devote the extra time to seeing sicker patients sooner and employing an extra nurse or clinic staff.

GPs can duck out of night-time call-outs and working at weekends if they wish.

That job would be provided by doctors working on behalf of local primary care units.

Patients will be registered with a surgery rather than an individual GP but they will still be entitled to see the doctor of their choice.

Announcing the ballot results, Dr John Chisholm, chairman of the BMA's General Practitioners Committee, said: "This system of rewarding practices for delivering high-quality care will be better for patients and produce improved health."