This site is intended for health professionals only


CQC sets fees for GP out-of-hours providers

The Care Quality Commission has announced the fees that GP out-of-hours providers will be charged to register with the regulator from 1 April 2012.

Providers will have to pay a registration fee of £800 if they have one location, £1,600 if they have two to three locations, or £4,000 if they have four to ten.

Fees will be set at £10,000 for providers with 11 to 50 locations, £24,000 for those with 51 to 100 locations, and £48,000 for providers with more than 100 locations.

The move brings out-of-hours services under the same bandings and fees scale as dentists and independent ambulance services' providers.

The changes, approved by the secretary of state following a consultation by the CQC, come ahead of the CQC's consultation on proposals for how much GP practices will pay to register from April 2013, which will be launched later this year.

CQC chief executive Cynthia Bower said: ‘Our approach to fees is based on fairness and on raising only as much income as we need to cover the costs of regulation. We have listened to what providers have told us and have made changes to address concerns and make the fees that we charge transparent and as proportionate as possible.'