GPs taking on extra shifts in the out-of-hours service will continue to have associated rises to indemnity fees covered by NHS England for an additional period.
The winter indemnity scheme was due to finish in March but will now run up until Easter Monday, 17 April, NHS England announced.
An NHS England statement said this was so that ‘GPs wishing to work additional shifts, particularly over the Easter Bank Holiday, can do so without the burden of further costs’.
NHS England director of primary care Dr Arvind Madan said: ‘The General Practice Forward View committed to help address the indemnity problem and today’s announcement is the latest step in the work NHS England has been doing with the Department of Health and the medical defence organisations.
‘We know the rising costs of indemnity are proving a real obstacle for GPs and this funding is an example of our determination to help tackle the issue.’
It comes as the wider indemnity support scheme, which is intended to cover the cost of indemnity inflation while the DH comes up with a more long-term solution to the pressure of indemnity costs, will begin from next month.
As previously reported, the £30 million fund will be divided based on the size of a practice’s registered list at a rate of 51.6p per patient.
