NHS England is considering a range of options to protect the small proportion of practices heavily reliant on the MPIG and will inform local area teams ‘shortly’ about how they intend to proceed with its withdrawal from April.
The move comes after extensive lobbying by rural GPs and MPs after the Department of Health ruled out additional support.
But campaigners said recently that health secretary Jeremy Hunt had listened to them and the Prime Minister recently told MPs that he would personally look at the implications of the plans.
The Government announced last year that it intended to remove MPIG completely over seven years from 2014 in order to make practice funding more ‘equitable’.
But Pulse revealed that smaller and multi-site practices will be hit hardest by the plans with accountants predicting a ‘bloodbath’ and some smaller practices closing for good.
Changes to the Carr-Hill formula to shift funding to more deprived areas have been delayed until 2015, but NHS England told Pulse that they were ready to press ahead with the changes.
An NHS England spokesperson said: ‘MPIG will begin to be phased out from 1 April 2014 as set out in the Statement of Financial Entitlements Direction 2013.
On outliers, the spokesman added: ‘NHS England is considering a range of options and will be writing to area teams shortly.
