This page has details of the agreed changes for the General Medical Services (GMS) contract for:
DES changes for 2010/11
NHS Employers and the General Practitioners Committee (GPC) have agreed the following:
Extended Hours Access DES
- To continue existing arrangements for the Extended Hours Access Scheme DES, first introduced in 2008/09 and extended for 2009/10 (see 2008/09 below). Practices are required to confirm with their PCT early in the 2010/11 financial year, whether they want to take up the DES.
- For this DES, practices are rewarded for providing around three hours extra appointment time per average practice a week, at times that suit the needs of their patients.
Clinical DESs
- Extending the four clinical DESs in England, for a further year for 2010/11- NHS Employers has produced updated guidance with the GPC, for trusts
NHS Employers and the General Practitioners Committee agreed the following changes:
- The heart failure DES that was introduced in 2008/09, will now form part of the Quality and Outcomes Framework (see our QOF web pages)
- The remaining four clinical DESs that were first introduced for 2008/09 (alcohol, learning disabilities, osteoporosis and ethnicity) are all two-year DESs and continue until 31 March 2010
- The Extended Opening Hours Access DES (introduced in 2008/09) also continue until 31 March 2010
DES changes for 2008/09
The following changes were introduced for 2008/09:
- Five new clinical DESs:
- Heart Failure DES - improving the treatment of heart failure and including incentives to provide beta-blockers to appropriate patients. Practices will get £35 per patient treated under this DES.
- Alcohol DES - helping to reduce the risk of adults, aged 16 years or over, drinking at 'hazardous and harmful levels' defined by the World Health Organisation. Practices will get £2.33 for each new registered patient that has been screened.
- Learning Disabilities DES - annual health checks for people on the local authority learning disability register. To participate in this DES, practices need to attend a multi professional education session run by their PCT. Practices will get £100 for every health check.
- Osteoporosis DES - encouraging practices to diagnose and prescribe appropriate pharmacological secondary prevention for patients with osteoporosis. Payments will be based on three criteria covering diagnoses and treatment. The payment per average practice that meets all three criteria is £588.21
- Ethnicity DES - rewarding practices for recording the ethnicity and first language of all the patients on their practice list. Practices will get 5.6p per registered patient
- Extended Opening Hours Access DES - practices are rewarded for providing around 3 hours extra appointment time per average practice a week, at times that suit the needs of their patients. Practices are paid £2.95 per registered patient. The Department of Health (DH) has issued more detailed guidance to PCTs
- IM&T DES (rolled over from 2007/08) - practice eligibility to receive one-off payments will continue for England for 2008/09. The Department of Health (DH) has amended the Statement of Financial Entitlements (SFE) to allow PCTs to make payments until 31 March 2009
The detailed guidance has been updated to support implementation of the clinical DESs and now includes information on audit requirements and coding. You can find more details on the inflationary uplift and Access DES on the DH website.