NHSE planning to include continuity of care in future GP contracts

NHS England is looking to recognise the ‘importance’ of continuity of care in future GP contracts.

Speaking at the NHS Confederation primary care conference today, national director for primary care Dr Amanda Doyle said she wants to incentivise practices to focus on continuity for patients but without ‘introducing silly measures and boxes to tick’.

The GP contract for 2024/25 is expected imminently, with Dr Doyle telling attendees her contract letter is due to be published ‘over the next few days’.

She said: ‘I can’t talk in any detail about the 2024/25 contract because we’ve not yet published it – we are hoping to publish it very, very soon. I would hope to spoil any possible bedtime reading over the next few days with a very interesting and long letter from me.’

When asked about the balance between increasing access and maintaining continuity of care, she said ‘being able to offer continuity is partly a function of capacity’.

‘The reasons often we fall down around continuity is we don’t have the capacity to meet everybody’s asks all the time, and so people end up being slotted in where they can and not necessarily with the person who knows them or the team who knows them,’ Dr Doyle said.

Over her 18 months in the NHSE role, she said she has ‘been really conscious’ not to ‘push unrealistic expectations’ on GPs given that ‘demand outstrips capacity by as much as it does’.

However, Dr Doyle confirmed that continuity of care will likely be included in future GP contracts.

‘We are looking at ways in which in the future we can recognise in the contract the importance of practices focusing on continuity, without introducing silly measures and boxes to tick and things like that,’ she said.

The 2024/25 contract has been badged ‘a stepping stone’ due to a lack of funding commitment, despite the current five-year contract coming to an end.

Last night, the BMA’s GP Committee (GPC) warned that it has given the Government 48 hours ‘to improve’ its offer for the 2024/25 contract, otherwise it will ‘set off a chain of events which will be deeply regrettable’.

Pulse exclusively revealed last month that the Government had initially offered a 1.9% uplift to baseline GMS funding for the 2024/25 contract, which the BMA said was ‘grossly inadequate’.

In December, the GPC asked grassroots GPs whether continuity of care should be included in the upcoming contract.

The Government’s current consultation on the future of QOF also asks the public whether continuity could be improved by being included in the incentive scheme.

Dr Doyle confirmed today that while NHS England is looking to ‘streamline things further’ in the 2024/25 contract, any ‘big change’ to QOF would come next year after the consultation has closed and been reviewed.

The Labour Party recently pledged to remove ‘burdensome’ bureaucracy for GPs in return for delivering continuity of care.