GPs in Birmingham faced a ‘failure to deliver’ notice when submitting their QOF scores last week by email after the designated inbox was full, Pulse can reveal.
According to the local LMC, the issue caused significant stress to practices attempting to submit their QOF results, although they have since received assurances from the local area team that they ‘will not be penalised’ for late QOF submissions.
The development comes after GPs were warned by LMCs to make contingency plans to protect their cash-flow this month, as many of the local area teams that have assumed responsibility for GP contracts this week face ‘huge problems’ and a lack of capacity to carry out their job effectively.
Birmingham LMC executive secretary Dr Robert Morley said: ‘The practices had problems getting their final QOF submissions through to the PCT, because the email inbox that they were asked to send their submissions to was full so it bounced them back.
‘It has caused an awful lot of stress for practices and in particular practice managers, when they found out they couldn’t get their QOF statements in.’
The local area team told Pulse today that it had been in contact with Dr Morley and that the issue was now resolved.
Head of primary care Donna Macarthur said: ‘There was an issue when the practices were attempting to submit their QOF information because the capacity of the inbox was exceeded at a particular point in time because of the volume of submissions and the size of attachments. A number of practices did receive a failure to deliver notification.
‘However, yesterday myself and the primary care team became aware of that and we were in communication with Dr Robert Morley and explained that the backdrop was being cleared and that any practice that had received a failure to deliver notice before the deadline would not be penalised in any way.’
Pulse Live: 30 April - 1 May, Birmingham
You can find out more about how to protect your earnings at Pulse Live, Pulse’s new two-day annual conference for GPs, practice managers and primary care managers. Richard Apps, partner at RSM Tenon, will be presenting a session on how to maximise your practice income and keep an eye on your cash flow.
Pulse Live offers practical advice on key clinical and practice business topics, as well as an opportunity to debate the future of the profession, and a top range of speakers includes NICE chair designate Professor David Haslam, GPC deputy chair Dr Richard Vautrey and the Rt Hon Stephen Dorrell MP, chair of the House of Commons health committee.
To find out more and book your place, please click here.
