19.02.16
GP contract £220m uplift to cover 1% pay rise and CQC fees
The GP contract for 2016-17 will include a fresh cash injection of £220m designed to cover a 1% pay rise and reimbursements to meet rising expenses – such as higher CQC fees, practice upkeep and staffing costs.
Although the deal was a “step forward in a number of areas”, the BMA – which negotiated the package with NHS Employers – argued that there is still a need for more reforms to address “overwhelming pressures”.
Its GP committee chair, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, said the union had been “clear from the outset” that these annual changes to the contract can’t “resuscitate general practice from the brink of collapse following years of underfunding, rising patient demand, staff shortages and unresourced work being moved from hospitals into the community”.
But NHS England’s boss, Simon Stevens, said today’s agreement provides some stability and support towards the GP workforce, as well as showing what can be achieved “through sensible and constructive negotiation”.
“However this contract is only one small element of a far wider package we’re jointly developing to help practices with workload, workforce and care redesign,” he added, in reference to a package of reforms health secretary Jeremy Hunt MP believes will assist in meeting existing pressures.
“That will require radical new options, including further support for GP recruitment and return to practice, funding for additional primary care staff, new options for practice premises, a reduction in paper-based red tape, alternative approaches to indemnity cover, and redesigned out of hours, 111 and extended hours arrangements, to name just a few – all underpinned by much greater team working across individual practices,” said Stevens.
NHS England has also committed to take forward discussions with the BMA’s GP committee this year on several areas – including looking at a national solution to reducing bureaucracy and workload management, promoting self-care and appropriate use of GP services, reforming arrangements for sickness pay, amongst others.
Presumably as part of Hunt’s vision for seven-day services, GP practices will also be required to record data on the availability of evening and weekend opening for routine appointments as part of today’s deal. This will be collected until 2020-21.
And as part of the government’s crackdown on agency pay, practices must start recording annually the amount of times where they pay a locum doctor more than NHS England’s indicative ceiling.
Dr Nagpaul also commended the decision to scrap the “deeply unpopular and imposed” Dementia Enhanced Service, with the £42m in the programme moving into core funding.
“The immunisation and vaccination item of service payment will increase by 28% from £7.64 to £9.80. There is also agreement to looking at ending QOF in its entirety and the Avoiding Unplanned Admissions enhanced service in April 2017,” he added.
However, he said, these “limited changes” do not detract from the union’s “ultimatum” to the government demanding a clear “rescue plan” to sustain general practice in both short and longer terms.
“We now need to focus on the real battle to revive general practice and which will require far broader solutions than tweaking the annual contract,” he finished.
A more detailed summary of extra changes made to the contract today has been compiled by NHS England.