This page outlines the changes to the General Medical Services (GMS) contract in England for 2008/09, that were jointly agreed by NHS Employers and the General Practitioners Committee.
The changes are:
- Additional 1.5% investment in new patient services, allocated as follows:
- firstly to meet the cost of the agreed 2008/09 inflation uplift, recommended by the Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body (DDRB), of 2.7% for global sum payments only. This will be mainly offset by savings in the correction factor payments. The Department of Health (DH) has published the legal amendments to support this change, which will be in effect from October (access through the link to SFE for IM&T DES 2008/09)
- secondly, £50m will be invested in the five new clinical DESs covering heart failure, alcohol, learning disabilities, osteoporosis and ethnicity. We have now published joint guidance on these DESs with the GPC
- thirdly, any outstanding money is being offered through PCTs, for local agreement with practices, to provide additional services to improve access and responsiveness. The DH has published guidance for PCTs on this.
- a new Extended Opening Hours Access Directed Enhanced Service (DES) - the DH has produced detailed guidance for PCTs and practices, and has now published the legal documentation to support this new DES
- IM&T DES (first introduced for 2007/08) - this has been extended for a further year until 31 March 2009
- Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) - small changes to ensure that QOF reflects the latest in clinical evidence, including amendments to some indicators and the removal of 58.5 QOF points to fund easier access. We have produced joint, detailed guidance with the GPC that is available online only.
Last reviewed 13 Oct 2008
