Newsletter

Update 92, Spring 2014

Welcome to Update 92 where we concentrate on chapter 3: Contracts and Finance.

The financial year of 2013 – 2014 has been challenging to say the least. The reorganisation of the NHS in March 2013 has taken a full twelve months to settle down. Only now are the new organisations finding their feet. This has caused a degree of angst in practices as many of our historical contacts are no longer in post or are working in new roles creating a gap with lost expertise. Practice Managers have been required to work with new and evolving systems and develop new contacts in the new organisations.

Unfortunately some systems are still not developed at the time of writing and some areas of responsibility are still not entirely clear. CQRS is one such system that has not quite been finalised, the focus on the automated extraction of QOF has delayed the automated extractions of enhanced services for the present and Practices are finding that a degree of manual input is still required.

We have also learnt that PMS contracts are formally going to be reviewed by NHS England. They have given their area teams a two year window to review all PMS contracts to ensure value for money and fair and equitable funding. This will undoubtedly have a huge impact on some Practices who could potentially have their level of funding reduced.

So, from one challenging financial year to the next…we hope you enjoy this update.

The authors…

From the HOPM team

Let us know what you like and dislike about the handbook so that we can do our best to continue to make it a useful and meaningful aid to managing your practice. Our aim is to provide a more flexible format that can adapt to the ever-changing environment of primary care within days, or even hours, of those changes becoming known. Contact Delme Stephenson, SAGE Publications, 1 Oliver’s Yard, 55 City Road, London EC1Y 1SP, 020 7324 8600;  delme.stephenson@sagepub.co.uk.