The GPC has put together a step-by-step guide for GPs to tackle the new unplanned admissions DES without it adding too much to their workload.
The guide sets out nine steps that practices need to go through to qualify for payment under the DES, which is worth more than £20,000 of funding for the average GP practice this financial year.
The GPC said it put together the document because the Government’s guidance was ‘overcomplicating’ the DES, with the move coming after a Pulse survey showed one in seven GPs was planning to refuse the DES because they thought it added too much bureaucracy.
The guide informs practices on: how to go about establishing the case management register and informing patients they are on that register; putting in place care plans for the patients; coordinating with other parts of the health system; and offering support when patients are discharged.
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GPC chair Dr Chaand Nagpaul said: ‘The official guidance was very long, stodgy – it overcomplicated the DES. It was very hard to go through and I can understand why many GPs felt very daunted by it.’
‘This is a step-by-step guide to support practices in minimising the bureaucracy and administration and to actually support the vulnerable patients which would ordinarily already be under ongoing assessment. This should really make it easier for GPs to achieve the steps required under the DES.’
At the end of last month, NHS England said the final specification for the unplanned admissions DES would be published ‘in the next few days’, however at the time of writing its website still says that the document, titiled ‘Avoiding unplanned admissions and proactive case management scheme’ was ‘to follow shortly’.
