03.10.13
More local price setting for new NHS payment system
Monitor and NHS England are consulting on new rules for the 2014/15 NHS payment system to encourage local payment approaches and better integration of care.
Local price setting currently accounts for about a quarter of the £67bn covered by the payment system, and the new draft proposals encourage more widespread use.
The proposals expect annual efficiency savings of 4%. The national tariff for 2014/15 takes account of rising NHS costs of 2.1%, so on average prices providers are paid for services next year should go down by 1.9%.
Commissioners will be required to agree a revised baseline before the marginal rate kicks in for emergency admissions, and the 70% retained by commissioners to invest in community services must be spent transparently and effectively, the proposals state.
They will be finalised in December and come into effect in April 2014.
Adrian Masters, managing director of Sector Development at Monitor said: “Our proposals for the payment system in 2014/15 are designed to help commissioners and providers address the key challenges facing NHS care in their localities.
“We are offering them more freedom to encourage the development of new service models, maintaining incentives to provide care more efficiently and providing greater financial certainty to underpin effective planning for patients.”
Paul Baumann, chief financial officer at NHS England, said: “Providers and commissioners face a major task in constructing robust plans for 2014/15 onward which secure clinical and financial sustainability in increasingly challenging circumstances.
“To help them succeed in this task, we are proposing tariff arrangements for 2014/15 which provide the maximum possible continuity. Meanwhile we will be taking forward our work on longer term pricing strategies to support our emerging strategic priorities and incentivise improved outcomes for patients.”
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