New deal for GP practices in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire

GP practices in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire are to receive a significant funding boost for the additional services they provide to patients, outside their standard contract.

The £2.3m in funding is part of a package of measures to support local GP surgeries in delivering better care to patients. The funding is being provided from the reallocation of existing NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) budgets.

Local Enhanced Service (LES) schemes are funded at the discretion of ICBs differently in each area of England. They include additional services to help people manage long term conditions, such as diabetes and frailty.

The package announced by NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire follows a comprehensive review of existing funding and the services provided. It includes:

• An overall £0.3m uplift to all LES existing schemes and a commitment to apply annual uplifts going forward
• The development of a new £1m LES scheme to support the proactive management of frailty and long-term conditions, helping to reduce emergency hospital admissions.
• A £0.281m increase in investment in the existing Diabetes LES scheme, with tiered funding to recognise the additional work required to treat patients with more complex needs.
• Commissioning a new transgender prescribing service to ensure GP practices are funded for providing ongoing treatment of patients with gender dysphoria.
• Increased investment in services delivered from GP practices to improve patient access.

As part of the new deal, NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire is also making a commitment to ensure GP practices are engaged with and play an integral role in new ways of neighbourhood working.

General Practice Provider Collaborative

Meanwhile, NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire is also working across the healthcare system to establish a General Practice Provider Collaborative. This will ensure Primary Care leadership is central to decision-making, strengthening integration with system partners and enhancing service design and delivery.

Amanda Sullivan, Chief Executive of NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire said: “Moving care from hospitals into the community is one of the cornerstones of the Government’s new 10 year-plan for the NHS. This new deal for GP practices helps to bolster that commitment locally, recognising the vital role that GP teams play as the front door to the NHS.

“And we continue to explore new ways of enabling our GP community to work together to improve patient care, enhance access and better coordinate services.”

ENDS