Practices to confirm transfer of GP reimbursement scheme funding with ICBs

Practices can write to their integrated care boards (ICB) to transfer GP reimbursement funding between primary care network (PCN) members, NHS England has confirmed.

New guidance, published last week, said that core practices in a PCN can shift the practice-level funding between themselves in order to hire salaried GPs and provide additional sessions.

The new funding pot was set up through the repurposing of £292 million in funding from the PCN capacity and access (CAP) scheme as part of this year’s GP contract.

Under the new scheme practices can use the funding to employ a salaried GP, pay for extra sessions from existing salaried GPs, or for the continuation of a salaried GP where the post was previously funded through the CAP or PCN test sites programme.

The guidance added: ‘This means that GPs previously funded via the capacity and access payment or the PCN test sites programme can transition to the scheme.

‘To support this, practices within the same PCN can transfer their funding entitlements to each other under the scheme.  They will need to write to their ICB to confirm this arrangement.’

The new NHS England guidance follows a statement of financial entitlements from last month which said that practices needed to confirm in writing to NHS England if they wanted to transfer funding between practices.

But in the latest document, NHS England said that GP practices need to write to their ICB to confirm the arrangement.

NHS England also said that the practice-level GP reimbursement scheme will now remain within the core GP contract beyond 2026/27 and will not transfer back to PCNs.

Concerns have been raised about the impact of the loss of CAP funding, with The NHS Alliance, saying it ‘risks undermining’ the government’s ambition to move care closer to home and the Institute of General Practice Management warning PCNs will be forced to cut services and make staff redundant.

The new NHS England guidance also confirmed that funding for the 22 PCN test sites, which were chosen in September 2024 to test demand and capacity, will end in April 2027.

Meanwhile, the NHS Modernisation Bill, which aims to support ICBs becoming strategic commissioners, also proposes scrapping the requirement for ICBs having to appoint at least one primary care member.

The bill, presented to parliament earlier this month, will instead introduce a requirement in the ICB constitution for them to appoint a member nominated by each mayor of a mayoral strategic authority within their areas.

Department of Health and Social Care guidance on the bill said: ‘Currently, ICBs are required to appoint at least one ordinary member nominated jointly by NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts, and at least one ordinary member who provides primary medical services in the ICB’s area.

‘We are proposing to remove these requirements, as it will be necessary for ICBs to make strategic commissioning decisions in a forum that avoids conflicts of interest, [and] be trusted to make decisions about membership of their boards without legislative prescription.’