Preface

It may well be asked why publish a third edition of Making Sense of the Red Book at a time when general practice is entering a period of radical change. The authors are fully cognisant of the government's intentions to pilot various alternative contractual options. However, none of these pilots are intended to start before 1 April 1998, and even if they are successfully concluded it is reasonable to assume that a sizeable majority of GPs will still be working under the present contract. In short, the Red Book is likely to continue to apply to the majority of GPs for a number of years. This third edition has therefore been extensively rewritten and updated.

Thus the Statement of Fees and Allowances - the 'Red Book' - will continue to set out the basis on which most general practitioners (GPs) are paid, and those who wish to understand how they are remunerated need to master its complexities. But the Red Book itself remains daunting and densely legalistic; as a result many doctors are unfamiliar with its contents, just as they are unfamiliar with the details of their contracts with the health authority.

This book explains the structure and principles of the Red Book, and although it is sometimes quite complicated in its expression, we hope it is much easier to read than the actual text. We have concentrated on its broad principles and provisions and have tried not to replicate its Byzantine detail. In particular, we have excluded all reference to the changing levels of fees and allowances so that the information contained in this book does not become out of date too quickly.

While the ordering of sections of the SFA is curious and to some extent accidental, with new sections being inserted wherever paragraphs have previously been unallotted, this book attempts to use a somewhat more logical sequence. However, a comprehensive index to the Red Book is included, and should allow the reader to gain access to relevant paragraphs of the SFA much more quickly than can be achieved using the outline contents at the front of the Red Book itself. In addition, while paragraphs of the SFA are only referred to in the text of Making Sense of the Red Book, third edition, when a reader is specifically directed to the Red Book's detailed provisions, the index to this volume uses the same terms as are used in the separate index to the Red Book, so the reader should easily be able to cross-refer from the text of this book to the detail of the SFA.

Readers must of course remember that only the original text carries the force of law and provides the detail needed for authoritative interpretation and resolution of any dispute as to meaning. The purpose of this book is different - it is to inform the reader of the broad structure of the Red Book and to give an overview of the complexity and range of general practitioners' fees and allowances.

One important matter of interpretation should be mentioned. While broadly speaking the contractual arrangements in Scotland are similar to those in England and Wales, the book does not make specific reference to the differences. The most important such difference is that in Scotland, GPs are in contract with Health Boards not Health Authorities.

Book Title: Making Sense of The Red Book