GPs to continue to get financial incentives for C+B

The national incentive scheme to reward GP practices for using Choose and Book is to continue for 2007/8, following months of uncertainty about funding for the e-booking scheme.

NHS Employers and the British Medical Association’s General Practitioner Committee have announced that the directed enhanced service (DES) for choice and booking will be rolled over for 2007/8 as will the DES scheme that rewards GPs for meeting access requirements.

Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the GPC, welcomed the decision. He said: “This is good news as it gets rid of any uncertainty that existed about the status of these two enhanced services.”

Dr Barbara Hakin, chair of NHS Employers’ GMS negotiating team, said both DES schemes delivered national priorities. She added: “Extending them for a further year will enable practices to continue their work on improving their patients’ access

to services and offering them choice in their consultant outpatient

appointments.”

Some practices have stopped using Choose and Book since the 31 March when the 2006/7 DES ended and there was no agreement on its renewal for the new financial year. The scheme was also under threat of a national boycott by GPs in protest at their zero per cent pay rise although the GPC decided instead to leave the decision about use of Choose and Book to individual practices.

Latest statistics from Connecting for Health show that more than 38% of referrals are now being via the e-booking service, still substantially short of the government’s 90% target.

The Choose and Book DES offers practices a maximum of 48p per patient for offering patients a choice when referring for a first consultant outpatient appointment and a maximum of 48p per patient if 90 % of referrals are made via Choose and Book, with a sliding scale of payments triggered once 50% of referrals have been made via the system.