Focus on Practice funding – Covid-19, QOF and Enhanced Services Funding during Outbreak
In a letter sent to NHS managers yesterday (17 March) the NHS chief executive, Simon Stephens confirmed that to ensure that practice funding does not influence clinical decisions during the current outbreak of Covid-19, QOF and other enhanced service funding will be protected at the same levels as prior to the outbreak.
This letter stated that ‘the key principle is that from 1st April we free up practices to prioritise workload according to what is necessary to prepare for and manage the outbreak, and therefore guarantee the income is protected if other routine contractual work has to be substituted. This does not prevent us from continuing to measure activities (for example those undertaken with QOF) but it ceases to put 2021 income at risk for performance. We will make sure that funding does not influence clinical decision-making by ensuring that all GP practices in 2021 continue to be paid at rates that assume they would have continued to perform at the same levels from the beginning of the outbreak as they had done previously including for the purpose of QOF, DES and LES payments’
Later on the same day Mr Stephens addressed the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee saying: ‘what we are doing, not just with GP’s, but we are going to do the same with hospitals and NHS Trusts, is essentially to say, look, for the next four – six months clearly were all going to be flat out at the coronavirus and therefore we are suspending the usual rules around contracts and payments and incentives, and just paying upfront funding that staff and organisations need in order to do the right thing for their patients on coronavirus.’
This statement effectively confirms that GP practices funding for QOS, DES and LES is protected during the outbreak.
Government Support for business paying Sick Pay to employees due to covid-19
As you are no doubt aware the chancellor announced recently that additional support for business, including GP surgeries, will be made available during the current outbreak. This support will be in the form of repayment to employers of Statutory Sick Pay paid to affected employees. Much of the detail of this support is yet to be issued however the main points are as follows:
The refund will cover up to 2 weeks of statutory sick pay per eligible employee who has been on sick leave due to Covid-19.
Employers with fewer than 250 employees will be eligible for this support.
Employers will be entitled to reclaim expenditure for any employee that claimed statutory sick pay as a result of Covid-19.
Employers should maintain records of staff absences and payments of statutory sick pay, but employees will not need to provide a GP fit note.
The government will work with employers over the coming months to set up a repayment mechanism for employers as soon as possible.
It is expected that the repayment mechanism is likely to enable you to offset your expenditure on sick pay due to Covid-19 against future PAYE and NIC payments.
