General medical services (GMS) contracts: These deliver core medical services and are agreed nationally. NHS England has three main contract options which it uses to commission primary medical services:
We take a look at the contracts available and the 2018/19 updates.
The contracts that govern general practice are also influenced by changes in NHS England and the healthcare landscape. We have seen super-practices, federations and medical companies emerge – all of which compete for NHS general practice contracts. As the structures of the care delivery required change, a distinction between the GP who provides professional services to NHS patients and the individuals who own the medical businesses those services are delivered under has developed. However, the general practice landscape is changing due to increasingly complex demands on the sector, the need for investment to deliver an effective service and the transfer of medical work from hospitals into the community as providers struggle with capacity. In the past, the majority of GP practices operated as single-handed or medical partnerships – the GP was, to all intents and purposes, a ‘business owner’. General practitioners have never been required to be employees of the NHS they are, most often, contracted to deliver medical services to NHS patients.
We revisit this year’s updates following July’s pay award announcement The contracts that GPs work under outline GP obligations and provide details of funding. GPs hold a unique position within the NHS in most cases, they aren’t directly employed by the NHS but are contracted to deliver healthcare and are the first point of contact for roughly 90% of patients – impressive.
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