GPs offered payment for NHS 111 ‘direct bookings’, Pulse reports

According to Pulse, GPs will be offered 70p per patient, if they open up their appointments for ‘direct booking’ by NHS 111 call handlers, as part of a major pilot of new urgent care models.

The pilot is being led by the North East Urgent and Emergency Care Network (NEUECN), and is one of eight urgent and emergency care vanguards which will be piloting new ways of configuring urgent care.

The programme will allow patients to be remotely allocated GP appointments via the urgent care hotline, in a bid to improve patient outcomes and increase access to GP appointments.

A spokesperson for the NEUECN claimed the scheme would ‘provide simpler and more secure access for patients who would otherwise be directed to GPs through less secure routes’.

They also added that a ’range of payment levels were discussed, and the final amount of 70p per registered patient was set in line with the funding available to the project’.

The payments will be made through Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG), with the NEUECN set to work with GP leaders and practices across the pilot to handle concerns.

However, Dr George Rae, chief executive officer of Newcastle and North Tyneside LMC, voiced concerns over the scheme. He said: “It looks like the funding is a one-off with the input from NHS 111 continuing for four-to-five years.

“That’s something I know is causing concern in the LMC and [our local GP] federation…That GPs will be asked to continue to do this] without any funding in the future.’

Rae added: “At the end of the day it’s up to the partnerships to decide what they’re going to do. I would, personally, have very significant reservations about that at this point in time.”