GP IT funding split evenly nationwide

GP IT funding will be paid to clinical commissioning groups on a per-head-of-population basis under new plans revealed by NHS England.

The national commissioning board is also due to release an updated version of its operating model, ‘securing excellence in GP IT’, which will cover what core IT services practices need and benchmarking of costs to procure them.

NHS England has decided to split the £186m fund earmarked for GP IT support evenly between CCGs based on their population size. A pot of money will also be kept back by the centre, which CCGs can apply for if they need extra money for already committed spend.

NHS England’s programme head of primary care IT Tracey Grainger told EHI the size of the central pot has not been determined, but it will smooth the transition process for CCGs, especially those that previously had a much larger GP IT budget than they will now receive.

“We’re going to keep some money back for transitional funding to help with the smoothing of an equalised funding arrangement and for those CCGs that can demonstrate a higher running cost then their budget, they can apply for this transitional funding,” she said.

Grainger added that there will also be a “stretch within the local funding” because some of the services previously funded by CCGs will be funded under the new GP systems of Choice contract, due to be signed by the end of this month.

She said there has been significant discussion and consultation with CCGs and the joint IT committee of the BMA and RCGP about the plans.

NHS England announced it was devolving responsibility for funding for GP IT to CCGs in June 2012 and did a ‘primary care IT expenditure stocktake’ of current annual spend.

This came up with a total budget of £186m. However, questions were raised regarding the method for arriving at this figure as an FOI request by EHI revealed that while some primary care trust areas reported a spend equal to 50p per patient on GP IT, others reported spend of up to £10 a patient.

The new population-based payment is yet to be determined, as it depends on the amount set aside for transitional funding, but based on the whole £186m and the current patient population, it would be around £3.50 per head.

The first operating model for GP IT was released in December 2012. Grainger said the revised document is about “giving clarity around system-wide processes and what GPs should expect in terms of IT services”.

Another document outlining the strategic direction for GP IT is due to be released in the summer.

NHS England is also developing a primary care digital maturity index, with the first iteration due out by April 2015. This would measure both the IT in use at practices and the outcomes it enables.

“It will assess digital maturity, but also compare investment and be used as a collaborative tool to share good practice across the system,” explained Grainger.

Details about whether a surgery provides online services, such as email consultations, will also be useful for patients and may be displayed on NHS Choices.

The majority of CCGs contract for their GP IT services with a commissioning support unit. A tender for the creation of a commissioning support services framework worth £3 billion – £5 billion was published last week.

This will allow CCGs to purchase their IT support on a ‘call-off’ basis.