Revisions to the GMS contract, 2006/07


Delivering investment in general practice
February 2006

This document gives primary care organisations and practices an overview of the changes to the General Medical Services (GMS) contract for 2006/07 and detailed information that they will need to implement the changes. Chapters 1 to 3 are relevant to all four countries in the UK, Chapter 4 is relevant in England and Wales, and Chapters 5 to 12 are applicable to England only.

Further detail about elements of the agreement in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, including information that Primary Care Organisations (PCOs) and practices will need to implement the changes, will be agreed between the health departments and their respective General Practitioner Committees (GPCs) and published separately as soon as possible.

Contents Foreword
The implementation of the new General Medical Services (nGMS) contract in April 2004 represented a significant step in the development of primary care, supported by an unprecedented level of new investment.

Over the past twenty months, the contract has provided a range of new services for patients and continued to drive improvements in the quality of patient care. Additionally, it has provided demonstrable benefits for GPs, other primary care professionals and the NHS.

Practices have demonstrated the quality of the care they provide and we also believe that the changes have given primary care organisations the opportunity to take a more strategic view of how health care is delivered locally and to improve convenience and choice for their patients.

As part of the original contract negotiations, it was agreed that we would review the contract for 2006/07. This document outlines the changes that have been agreed by NHS Employers, the General Practitioners Committee (GPC) and the health departments of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in the first stage of that process, which will come into effect on 1 April 2006.

Throughout the process, our key focus has been to ensure that the contract continues to deliver better services for patients, whilst being fair to the profession and representing good value for public money.

The agreed aim to build on the achievements of the new GMS contract, focusing on health and service priorities to continue to benefit patient care. The key changes include:
  • a review of the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), with several new or revised areas
  • in England, new directed enhanced services for practice based commissioning, access, information management and technology and patient choice and booking
  • in England, the introduction of a new patient experience survey
  • in Scotland, new directed enhanced services for cardiovascular disease risk database, learning disabilities, carers and cancer referral and re-badging of the 50 QOF points for access into a new directed enhanced service (DES)
  • in Wales, new directed enhanced services for access, information technology, learning disabilities and severe mental health
  • in Northern Ireland, new directed enhanced services for access and long-term chronic disease
  • in England and Wales, a new system for paying dispensing doctors and more transparent arrangements for reimbursing VAT.
This document gives primary care organisations and practices an overview of the agreement and the detailed information that they will need to implement the changes.

Looking ahead to stage two of our negotiations, for April 2007 onwards, emerging evidence on the patient benefits of the existing GMS contract, patient feedback, the implications of “Our health, our care, our say: A new direction for community services” in England, together with similar developments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the recommendations from the Formula Review Group will inform our approach.

We hope that these revisions will help you, in your continued efforts to improve patient care.

Dr Barbara Hakin, Chair of NHS Employers negotiating team, and Dr Hamish Meldrum, GPC Chairman

© British Medical Association 2008

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