GPs to get extra £10 to vaccinate housebound patients

GPs will get an extra £10 for every Covid vaccination delivered to a housebound patient in recognition of the extra staff time and complexity involved, NHS England has announced.

The additional supplement is on top of the £12.58 item of service fee and also applies to any vaccinations which have already been administered to people at home, NHS England said.

A letter sent to vaccination sites last week (4 February) said that if GPs or pharmacists vaccinate a housebound patient at the same time as vaccinating other eligible members of the household, ‘only one £10 supplement per visit can be claimed’.

It added: ‘The £10 supplement applies retrospectively to any first dose vaccinations that have taken place since 14 December in line with the above criteria, and will also apply to second dose vaccinations that take place in line with these arrangements.’

NHS England said that there is ‘nothing to prevent’ PCN groupings from subcontracting the service to another contractor under the existing arrangements, adding that it supported ‘innovative models of professional collaboration’ to ensure patients are vaccinated quickly.

It also praised GPs for making the effort to reach patients in wintry conditions.

NHS England primary care director Dr Nikki Kanani said: ‘Tremendous efforts have been made by GPs across the country to ensure we vaccinate those people who are in the priority cohorts as determined by the JCVI.

‘Since the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine was approved for use and we began administering it on 4 January when Brian Pinker became the first person to receive the jab, my colleagues across the country have been prioritising the vaccination programme roll out which is our biggest chance of beating this virus.’

Over 12 million people in the UK have now been vaccinated against Covid-19, with 1,000 jabs a minute administered during one hour on Saturday, the Government has said.