GP Contract 2016/17: What will change?

30th March 2016

The 2016/17 GP contract for England looks to bring in several new measures to help boost the NHS’ withering reputation. GP practices are to receive a 3.2% funding uplift next year, after belated contract negotiations between the GPC and the government concluded in February. The contract includes increased investments of £220m to cover a 1% pay uplift and rising expenses such as indemnity fees, national insurance, employer superannuation increases and practice running costs. The Department of Health says this also includes £15m to help cover the massive hike in CQC fees. Accountants say this could amount to the first pay rise for GP partners ‘in many years’. The GPC says the contract offers ‘immediate financial support’, and for the first time recognises the specific expenses practices incur. GPC chair Dr Chaand Nagpaul says: “These limited changes provide some immediate financial support, which for the first time in years recognises the expenses incurred by practices and the resources needed to deliver pay uplift rather than a pay cut.”

Luke Bennett, a partner at Francis Clark LLP and a committee member of the Association of Independent Specialist Medical Accountants (AISMA) commented: “As ever there will be winners and losers at an individual practice level, but an overall settlement that is intended to give a pay rise of 1% when inflation is running at less than 1% will be the first real pay increase, however modest, for many years.” Responding to criticism on the deal, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt says “GPs are the bedrock of the NHS and I am determined to provide the support they need so they can spend more time with patients. This deal is just the start of significant new investment for general practice, which will help GPs to provide a truly modern, efficient service every day of the week.”

In the new contract:

1% pay uplift: As a result of a £220m funding investment to tackle rising expenses and increased CQC fees; potentially this could deliver better pay for partners and salaried GPs.
Locum fee reporting: GP practices to record annually the number of instances where a practice pays a locum doctor more than an ‘indicative’ maximum rate, to be set by the NHS
Vaccination fee increase: Practices will be paid £9.80 for each vaccination and immunisation – a 28% increase on the current £7.64 item-of-service fee.
Extended access reporting: Practices required to record data on the available of evening and weekend opening for routine appointments every six months until 2020/21
Workload strategy: A commitment to a ‘national strategy’ to reduce bureaucracy and manage demand on GP services
Identity checking: The GPC and the Government are developing plans for how practices can identify patients who have a European Health Insurances Card (EHIC), with an eye to implementing this in December.
Data on accountable GPs: Aiming to ensure that ‘appropriate and meaningful’ data relating to patients’ named accountable GP, including QOF scores are made available and shared internally between practices
Other:

Out of the new contract

QOF and the unplanned admissions DES: Joint commitment to ‘explore the end’ of the QOF and Avoiding Unplanned Admissions DES. There is little enthusiasm to continue with the QOF, and scant evidence the DES actually reduced pressure on secondary care.
Dementia DES: An end to the dementia directed enhanced service, with a transfer of resources back into core funding.

While the GPC was clear that these annual variations to the contact could not fully resuscitate general practice from the brink of collapse following years of underfunding, rising patient demand and staff shortages, this year’s update provides precious core resource increases and reimbursement of expenses. Moreover, a national commitment is now being made to devising a workable solution to the workload crisis.