WIREDGOV

A new two-year contract to cut out more red tape from GPs’ workloads in Wales has been agreed by the Welsh Government and GPC Wales.

As part of the new contract, a number of key changes and commitments for 2015-16 and 2016-17 have been agreed, which underpin the Welsh Government’s plan to reform primary care services in Wales.      

Under the new deal, GPs will have more time to spend caring for the most vulnerable people with complex care needs, in particular, frail and elderly patients.

The new contract also strengthens the primary care cluster arrangements in Wales, which are designed to deliver more effective local services, as well as a framework to assess and support the sustainability of GP services for patients in rural and deprived communities in Wales.

It will also lead to the removal of some further unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy. The return of a further 101 points in 2015-16 to core funding from the quality and outcomes framework (QOF) – part of the GP contract – means that since 2014-15, around 40% of the total QOF points associated with red tape and bureaucracy have been removed. Good practice supported in the framework is now embedded in clinical practice.

Commitments in 2016-17 include a review of the care homes enhanced service; the diabetes enhanced service and completing the review of the item of service fee in relation to vaccinations and immunisations, together with a commitment to make it a contractual requirement for practices to offer more GP appointments and repeat prescriptions online using the My Health Online website.

In recent months, the Health Minister has announced that more than £40m will be invested in 2015-16 to develop primary care services across Wales, building on the Welsh Government’s primary care plan to move more care out of hospitals into local communities and improve access to preventative, integrated community, primary and social care services.

Health and Social Services Minister, Mark Drakeford said:

“The two-year agreement reached with GPC Wales directly addresses GPs’ concerns about unnecessary bureaucracy.

“This places more trust and reliance on the professionalism of GPs to use their clinical judgement and will allow GPs to spend more time caring for the most vulnerable people with complex care needs, in particular, the frail and elderly.

“We know the public is pleased with the care provided by GPs, although there is an ongoing need to improve access to primary care services. This contract, as part of the reform of primary care services, provides a good platform to continue the improvement of the provision of core services provided by GPs.” 

Dr Charlotte Jones, chair of GPC Wales, said:

“This agreement, reached with the Welsh Government, will give practices a degree of stability knowing what their financial flows from the GMS contract will largely be.

“The change to QOF recognises the high-quality care embedded in general practice and enables practices to continue to focus on managing the individual patient rather than simply chasing targets, which are not always relevant to the all patients.

“GPC Wales is particularly pleased to see further development of the cluster networks which, together with the new monies announced by Welsh Government, will drive forward this work, which has the potential to make a significant difference to patient care in the local community and enable development of new or revised models and systems of care where appropriate.

“We recognise the many pressures facing practices and believe these changes, including the sustainability framework, which will support individual practices where needed, will be of benefit to practices and patients alike.”