A CCG has announced it is to invest £2m of extra money into local GP practices via enhanced services such as diabetes and obesity management clinics.
NHS Eastern Cheshire CCG said the investment would ensure fairer funding among practices and stop people falling ill and using emergency services.
The extra investment, signed off by the CCG governning body on 29 October, is on top of the CCG’s existing £2.6m general practice budget.
The CCG said the investment comes in anticipation of taking on devolved responsibility for commissioning general practice from NHS England starting from April next year.
The new contracts, which will go live next month, include:
- Obesity management clinics;
- Advice and support to stop people developing diabetes;
- Services for people with long-term conditions, including serious breathing problems;
- Prostate cancer diagnosis.
The CCG said it had identified £1.1m funding through a review of PMS funding of 12 local practices led by NHS England.
CCG chief officer Jerry Hawker said the PMS review and a CCG-led review of local health services would ’ensure that funding was used in the most appropriate and fair way possible’.
He added: ’These new services will help stop people falling ill and will support people with long-term conditions to live healthy, independent lives.
’The investment recognises that the GP surgery is the first point of contact with the NHS for most people and that it represents a golden opportunity to relieve pressure on urgent and emergency care by helping people to better manage their health in the community.’
