On March 31, 2023, an update was issued outlining changes to the GP Contract for 2023-24, which is the final year of the five-year agreement made in 2019-20. Here Medics’ Money give us a summary of the key changes. The Medics’ Money Partnership Programme has helped hundreds of partners improve their practices.
The funding changes for the upcoming year are summarised as follows:
- Practice Based Funding – There have been minimal changes to funding at the practice level. The global sum has increased to £102.28 per patient adjusted for weighting, resulting in a rise of 2.59% from the previous year. However, the out of hours opt-out deduction remains at 4.75%, so practices will receive £97.42 per patient.
- Quality and Outcomes Framework – Although the overall pounds per point for an average contractor population has risen from £207.56 to £213.43, the average population used has also increased, resulting in no rise in pounds per point per patient. Changes are being made to Childhood Vaccination and Immunisation thresholds, and the repayment mechanism will be removed if a practice achieves less than 80% coverage. This change is expected to improve payment outcomes, particularly in areas with high deprivation, which struggle with achieving high coverage of their population.
- Vaccinations and Immunisations Enhanced Services Payments remain at the same level as in 22/23, with no increase applied.
- Primary Care Network Participation Payment Payments remain at £1.76 per weighted patient as calculated on January 1, 2023.
- Other reimbursements – Other reimbursements such as maternity and sick leave locum cover remain unchanged.
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Primary Care Network Funding
- Investment and Impact Fund (IIF) Changes to PCN funding have been announced, mainly concerning the IIF. The number of indicators has been reduced from 36 to 5, with funding of £59m, just over £1 per patient. The remaining IIF funding of £246m will focus entirely on access and patient experience of contacting their practices. 70% of this will be available as a monthly payment to PCNs via Capacity and Access Support Payments, equivalent to £2.77 per weighted patient. The PCN must agree on a plan with its local ICB, and no clawback will be made in respect of this part of the payment. The remaining 30% (£1.19 per patient) will be assessed at the end of the year in a similar way to QOF based on how practices performed against the plan agreed with its local ICB.
- Additional Role Reimbursement Scheme – there have been some modifications to the cap and type of roles covered by the reimbursement, although the overall funding from the original five-year plan has not changed.
- Most other PCN funding streams remain unchanged from previous years and in some cases, there are some small reductions.
The government has adhered to the terms of the five-year deal set in 2019-20 in terms of overall funding for general practice. However, inflationary pressures in the economy and other factors such as the removal of business energy support could result in practices facing cost increases that rise above income increases. On a positive note, there is continued investment at PCN level, with the Capacity and Access Support Payments appearing a reasonably light touch in respect of in-year payment. The lack of increase in core funding makes it essential for PCNs to ensure that funding flows to the practice level. With the end of this five-year deal looming, there are reports emerging concerning more integration of primary care into the wider health system, although there is a lack of detail on how this will be funded.
The Medics’ Money Partnership Programme has helped hundreds of partners improve their practices.
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