If you are a surgery or general practice looking to win substantial contracts or funding, it can be a daunting prospect, particularly if you are an already over-worked GP or Practice Manager struggling for time.
What types of GP contracts can you bid for?
APMS (Alternative Provider Medical Services) contracts are regularly put out to tender by the NHS commissioners – usually Integrated Care Boards or local authorities – every week on the Government’s Find a Tender website. This type of contact enables private sector companies to provide primary care services. They can also be used as a vehicle to commission contracts for services that are outside the scope of core general practice such as helping individuals or groups not signed up to surgeries, for example asylum seekers or the homeless.
PMS (Personal Medical Services) contracts were hugely popular and generally facilitated by NHS England and Clinical Commissioning Groups but these are being phased out in favour of a new Integrated Care Provider (ICP) contract to allow for a better integration of services.
GMS (General Medical Services) contracts are the national standard GP contract.
For more information on the types of GP contracts, see The Kings Fund website.
We tend to work more on bids for APMS contracts and, in partnership with PMA, are here to support and guide GPs and Practice Managers through the tender bid process.
In fact, we have bid on more than 300 health and social care contracts with a win rate of 93%, securing £1 billion in contracts and funding for our clients.
Is there any general practice funding available in the UK?
The latest NHS England waiting list figures, up to November 2023, stand at 7.6 million. That’s 7.6 million people who are all waiting to start elective/non urgent treatments in England.
While this has dropped ever so slightly from 7.7 million in October 2023, it is still much larger than the 7.2 million it was just a year ago in November 2022.
According to The Lancet, NHS England’s recovery plan aims to increase capacity by up to 30%, compared with pre-pandemic levels, over the next three years through a range of measures, including extra staff and increased use of the independent sector.
Due to this significant, unprecedented pressure on our healthcare system, we anticipate that there will be additional funding opportunities for GP Practices and Primary Care Networks (PCNs) made available by NHS England.
The General Practice Improvement Programme (GPIP), for example, provides nationally funded support for practices and primary care networks (PCNs) to implement modern general practice.
There is also funding available to GP practices to help them with going digital, such as cloud-based telephone systems, online consultation software and new appointment booking systems.
Find out more on the NHS website.
If you need help with winning GP contracts or funding, get in touch with K Low Consulting today to see how we can assist you. Contact info@klowconsulting.com or give us a call on 0330 133 1041.