LONDON, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- There should have been a cap on British doctors' pay-for-performance earnings, British Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt said this week.
Last year the National Health Service launched the world's largest healthcare pay-for-performance scheme. The program's unanticipated success meant doctors' salaries jumped by 30 percent and the Health Service posted a massive budget deficit.
In addition, doctors kept a larger percentage of that income for themselves, instead of investing in their practices or better care for their patients.
In the future, performance pay will be capped and the measures will be made more stringent, Hewitt said, according to The Independent.
British doctors criticized Hewitt's statement, saying they should be praised for improving patient care under the pay-for-performance scheme.
