GMS & PMS Regulatory Changes - What Does This Mean For GPs?

Amongst amendments such as the inclusion of paramedic independent prescribers as prescribers who can be engaged by primary medical service contractors, and the substitution of the National Quality Requirements for Out of Hours with the Integrated Urgent Care Key Performance Indicators, it also makes the following amendments and requirements:

• contractors who have less than 10% of their registered patients registered to use online services must agree a plan with NHS England (or delegated CCG) to increase their percentage. There remains a non-contractual target of 30% to be achieved by 31 March 2019 set by the GPC and NHS England;
• contractors must identify patients over 65 with moderate to severe frailty is now an annual requirement;
• contractors must use the NHS e-Referral Service in respect of each referral of registered patients to a first consultant-led out-patient appointment for which the facility is available. However, this does not apply to:
  • contractors who do not yet have e-Referral Service in place for the premises; or
  • where there are technical or practical difficulties preventing its use about which NHS England (or delegated CCG) have been notified.  The Contractor is required to agree a plan with NHS England (or delegated CCG) for resolving the difficulties

In both above cases, the contractor must require the use of alternative means of referring until the contractor has e-Referral Service in place or the difficulties have been resolved.

• in respect of violent patients, a contractor will be allowed to remove a person from its list where it becomes aware, after accepting the person onto that list, that the person has committed an act of violence against specified persons and has previously been removed from the list of patients of another provider of primary medical services on that basis.

These amendments to the regulations will need to be incorporated into contractors' primary medical services contracts through the issuing by NHS England (or delegated CCG) of a variation notice. 

If you have any queries about your primary medical services contract, our team of specialist Healthcare experts are well placed to advise and support you.

For more information, please contact a member of our Healthcare team,

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