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Pulse Intelligence: shining a light on your practice funding

Someone once said general practice funding is like ‘painting a house using dozens of tester pots’.

I’d guess the majority of practices wouldn’t want it this way. Far preferable would be a system whereby you received adequate funding through the global sum and knew the requirements involved.

Yet the ‘tester pots’ system is the one practices must navigate. There is plenty of funding out there, but all with strings attached, whether it be the QOF, enhanced services, prescribing fees or GP Forward View funding.

Two years ago, Pulse’s former editor and I decided to shine a light on this. We would use the data from NHS Digital that showed how much NHS funding every practice in England received in a financial year. We’d identify the profile of practices that were most efficient in securing this funding and which CCGs were best at supporting general practice, in order to set a benchmark for how much your practice should expect to receive.

The fact I am writing this a full two years later gives an indication about how complex this is, and how much the project we embarked on has grown. But, I think our efforts have finally borne fruit.

This month’s cover feature, in which we have been able to look at funding trends across England, reveals some interesting findings: small practices receive more funding per patient, while practices in Cheshire and Merseyside receive 20% more funding than those in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Of course, there are reasons for this, but it does give a glimpse into the complexity behind the funding.

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But this investigation is also a glimpse into Pulse Intelligence, our newly launched service. Using it, you can drill down into your practice’s funding, compare it with your neighbours’, and see if you are making the most of the available funding. We show you how much a QOF point is worth to your practice, and whether you are coding your patients correctly.

We have been working with experts to produce guides on the most efficient ways to increase this funding, and maybe access funding pots you never knew existed.

And, in the next couple of months, we will have sections on your network, staffing, and all the local enhanced services available in your CCG – and how those compare with your neighbours’.

This is all produced to the high standards you expect from Pulse, with independent advice that won’t simply say networks are wonderful, or that a physician associate will solve your problems but will offer honest appraisals about the opportunities out there.

We are offering a 30-day free trial so you can see all we have to offer.

We may not be able to paint your house but we can at least tell you what colours are available.