PCSE Online to process PCN payments from next week

PCSE Online will begin processing PCN capitation payments from next Monday, with payments now made to any nominated payee regardless of whether they are a member practice.

The system will go live from 3 October and payments will be made from 20 October.

Until now, PCNs whose nominated payee is a member practice have been able to use an interim solution to calculate capitated payments via the Calculating Quality Reporting System (CQRS), which are then processed automatically online.

This solution, however, has not been available to PCNs whose nominated payee is not a member, with payments to those PCNs made manually by commissioners.

But the new system will enable automated payments to any nominated payee regardless of their organisation type, enabling ‘accurate and timely payments’.

The Primary Care Support England (PSCE) contract is fulfilled by Capita on behalf of NHS England, with the company securing a three-year extension worth £94m in July to continue delivering the service.

ARRS payments will also be processed automatically via the PCSE Online system, following commissioner approval, but claims will continue to be submitted via the ARRS portal.

And PCSE Online will also process future IIF payment calculations for all PCNs, irrespective of the identity of the nominated payee.

Current pay codes will be deactivated and automatically replaced.

PCSE services had been under review in March amid GP pension ‘administration issues’, after a minister acknowledged there were almost 20,000 GP pension errors.

And earlier this year, LCMs across England trialled a new PCSE ‘escalation process’ GP queries that are urgent or have not been resolved within 40 days.