An LMC in the North of England has forced NHS England to back down over extended opening hours in wake of the NHS hack attack that took place in May.
Derbyshire LMC said that commissioners in the area had insisted that practices should make up the missed extended opening hours, under the national DES, in the second quarter of the year.
But, following pressure from the LMC, NHS England area teams across England have been told to waive any action relating to lost extended hours during the malware attack, should they have taken any.
In a statement on its website, Derbyshire LMC said: ‘The LMC raised this with GPC, stating that this is not acceptable as it was out of the control of practices. Following this, NHS England has now asked their local offices to liaise with commissioners and ensure it is seen as exceptional circumstances and not practice decision/error.
‘As a direct result, commissioners are being advised to waive action on this occasion with no negative impact on the associated funding for the DES.’
The LMC has pledged to pursue the issue so that practices do not lose out financially.
‘Our work is not done yet, we are waiting to hear back regarding the larger issue of compensation for practices,’ said the website statement.
The BMA told Pulse they were only aware of the issue facing Derbyshire practices to date.
An NHS England spokesperson said: ‘We were notified some local commissioners had asked GP Practices to work additional hours to make up for hours lost during the cyber attack. We agreed this was not necessary and advised local commissioners accordingly.’
