A Huddersfield GP has criticised plans to pay him a £55 bonus each time he diagnoses a patient with dementia as an ethical “minefield”.

Dr John Priestman from Kirkburton Health Centre said he thought the scheme would be unpopular with most GPs.

But Huddersfield’s top family doctor has said the unexpected cash boost would help support GPs’ services.

The proposals, which were exposed to the media by a Surrey based GP, have been slammed by patient groups and health unions with the British Medical Association saying it “undermined the doctor/patient relationship”.

Unison, the largest health union, said it was an “outrage” that the Government was lining the pockets of GPs yet had denied the majority of NHS staff a 1% pay rise.

Dr Priestman, a GP for more than 30 years, said: “I don’t think most GPs would want it. It could open up a minefield and would probably cause some ethical dilemmas.

“As far as I know we’ve never been paid before to make diagnoses. I’m not happy about it and I don’t think it’s the way forward.”

Dr Steve Ollerton, a GP at Skelmanthorpe Health Centre and clinical lead of Greater Huddersfield Clinical Commissioning Group (GHCCG), said: “Dementia is a key priority for us because we know it is a devastating illness for patients, carers and families. Our dementia diagnosis rate last year was around 40%.

“This year we have already seen diagnosis rates increase to 56% and are on target to reach the national target of 67% by year end. We know diagnosing early is key to getting treatment which can slow progression of the disease.

“GPs across Greater Huddersfield are already doing fantastic work to pick up new cases through screening elderly patients in consultations. This new bonus was not expected, but will be used to help our GPs do more of this good practice.”

Gary Cleaver, Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Organiser for Unison, said: “We are as concerned as everyone else that an estimated 350,000 people suffering from dementia go undiagnosed.

“But GPs and hospital staff are all trained to do this diagnosis with a simple set of questions.

“More money should be going into treatment for people suffering from dementia, not into the pockets of a relatively small number of GPs – most of whom have never sought to receive extra payment for doing their job”