GPs will receive just under £1 per patient more as part of the 2019/20 global sum, NHS England has announced.
In a letter giving extra details on the new five-year GP contract – released earlier this month – NHS England said the global sum price per weighted patient will rise from £88.96 in 2018/19 to £89.88 in 2019/20 – meaning practice will get an extra 92p.
On top of this, practices will receive £1.76 per head for joining a primary care network.
The letter said that this year’s increase is smaller than following years because there is a ‘one-off payment’ this year to cover the costs of the new indemnity scheme.
The BMA told Pulse the global sum figure will include the additional pots of money outlined in the contract, for example the £20m for subject access requests.
GP Committee chair Dr Richard Vautrey said the funding boost should give practices the ‘confidence’ to plan for the future.
The new global sum payment will include:
- £30m to enable direct appointment bookings through NHS 111 and cover the rising costs of the extended hours access changes
- A 2% pay increase for practice staff
- £20m per year for subject access requests for the next three years
- The ongoing £2m for issues related to Capita
- The redistribution of MPIG and seniority payments
Speaking to Pulse, GPC chair Dr Vautrey said: ‘That [£89.88] includes everything – but then you have to factor in the network participation payment as well, which is £1.76. Collectively that’s the investment that will go into practices’ baseline to enable them to maintain their activity and resource their staff.’
‘The [global sum and network participation payment] will enable them [GPs] to resource their practices and together that should be sufficient to deliver a 2% pay uplift for all practice staff,’ he continued.
Dr Vautrey added the five-year contract will also help tackle the risk of clinical negligence indemnity faced by GPs.
He said: ‘Overall, the contract value increases by 1.4%, which provides practices with the confidence to be able to plan for the future.
‘We’ve secured a five-year agreement that will ensure practices receive uplifts year on year for the next five years, and at the same time we’ve removed the risk of indemnity, which would have increased significantly more during that period of time.’
Responding to the news, Walsall GP and LMC medical secretary Dr Uzma Ahmad said: ‘The GP contract comes with a lot of changes, so I understand that the rise in global sum is not as much as we might have expected.
‘But income will come to the practice through other routes, there will be a reduction in expenses, and indemnity relief is a big deal, so we have to look at it and balance it that way.’
More to follow…
