By Gareth Iacobucci
The GPC and NHS Employers have reached agreement over the distribution of this year's GP pay award, after agreeing to adhere to the Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body recommendation on how to carve up the 0.8% uplift.
As a result, half of the overall gross uplift will be invested into a combination of global sum, correction factor, QOF, enhanced services and locum payments, with the other half applied to global sum payments only with no corresponding increase to correction factor.
Any released correction factor payments will be reinvested back into the global sum.
The award will translate into an uplift of 0.41% for the QOF and the same to enhanced services and locum payments.
The weighted price per patient will increase from £63.21 in 2009/10 to £64.59 in 2010/11.
In England, payments inclusive of these uplifts will be made to practices from 1st July and backdated to 1st April 2010.
The deal follows the Department of Health's controversial decision to ignore the pay body's recommendation to increase GPs' payments by 1.34% - designed merely to cover rising expenses – and instead award an uplift of just 0.8%.
The previous Government had initially estimated 8% of practices would be taken off the MPIG in 2010/11, and that just 27% of GMS practices would remain on the correction factor by 2013/14.
But, as Pulse revealed in April, only around 2% of practices are forecast to come off MPIG in 2010/11, as the pay award was too small to pay for it.
GPC chair Dr Laurence Buckman said: ‘We remain disappointed that the Government chose not to accept the DDRB's recommendations in full.'
Negotiation on the distribution of this year's GP pay uplift have now concluded Negotiation on the distribution of this year's GP pay uplift have now concluded
