Discussion between NHS Employers and the General Practitioners' Committee (GPC) of the BMA on how to distribute the gross 0.8 per cent uplift to the General Medical Services (GMS) contract for England for 2010/11 has now concluded. The outcome is that both sides have agreed to use the methodology recommended by the Doctors and Dentists' Review Body (DDRB) to distribute the 0.8 per cent uplift across the GMS contract.
This means that:
- half of 0.8 per cent will be applied to the following five elements of the GMS contract, in proportion to their current relative spend: global sum; correction factor; Quality and Outcomes Framework; enhanced services; and locum payments
- the remaining half will be invested in the global sum, with no corresponding increase to correction factor payments
any money that is released through reductions in correction factor payments will be reinvested back into the global sum, reducing the number of practices on the Minimum Practice Income Guarantee (MPIG)
Application of this methodology translates into an uplift of 0.41 per cent for the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) and 0.41 per cent uplift to enhanced services and locum payments.
The weighted price per patient will increase from £63.21 in 2009/10 to £64.59 in 2010/11.
In England, payments inclusive of these uplifts will be made to practices from 1st July and backdated to 1st April 2010.
Commenting on the implementation of the 2010/2011 GMS contract uplift, Dr Laurence Buckman said:
"This announcement ends the uncertainty for GPs surrounding the implementation of this year's pay award. We remain disappointed that the government chose not to accept the DDRB's recommendations in full."
Best wishes
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