GP premises fund relinquished and CCGs given control, says HSJ

CCG’s will be given authority to spend funding on costs not immediately associated with GP infrastructure projects as longs as the intended investment is expected to add capacity to comment health services.

However, the British Medical Association (BMA) has raised strong concerns with the new programme.

The fund, initially called the ‘Primary Care Infrastructure Fund’, was launched in December. In accordance with the new regulations, the fund will be renamed the ‘Primary Care Transformation Fund’. In January, GP practices were invited to bid for funding, which would be released in £250 million tranches over four years.

Overall, 1,087 GP practices have received £192 million from the first instalment of funding.

The NHS have announced that from 2016-17, CCGs will be in charge of bidding for and deciding how allocations from the fund are spent. In addition, local commissioners will be able to propose schemes which unfold over more than a year.

Such schemes may include initiatives that aid funding increased training capacity and improving seven day access. CCGs will need to submit proposals to NHS England concerning how they wish to use funds by February 2016.

An NHS England spokesman said: “CCGs will work with GP practices to identify opportunities for developing existing premises, relocating services to new or existing buildings to provide a wider range of services and better use of existing premises.”

NHS England will publish information regarding the process for submission by December 2015.

However, the BMA committee chair Chaand Nagpaul issued concerns about whether resources in the fund would be distributed appropriately.

He said: “Investment in GP facilities is vital to the long term delivery of patient care in general practice. The promise to allocate £250m annually from 2015-16 to improve GP premises was supposed to address this fundamental problem.

“Unfortunately, the reality on the ground is that the scheme has been fraught with delays and administrative hurdles, with large numbers of promised improvements to GP practices across the country yet to start. We support the extension of the timeline for this process to be completed, but this must apply to the first tranche of funding this year so those who have seen delays are not disadvantaged.

“Just as worryingly, it now appears that some of the funding may now be siphoned off into other projects and priorities. This is simply unacceptable: ministers promised this funding would improve GP services infrastructure and they should stick to that commitment.

“We now need to ensure that these earmarked resources are deployed to ensure that GP premises are fit and able to deliver effective care, and that is done in the quickest possible timeframe. We will be immediately raising our concerns with NHSE and demanding an explanation of how we are going to rescue this faltering programme.”

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