CCGs to jointly commission GPs with local area teams, says primary care chief

The GP contract needs more ‘flexibility’ to allow CCGs and local area teams to jointly commission services from practices directly on the ground, says the primary care chief at NHS England.

Dr David Geddes, head of primary care commissioning at NHS England and a part-time GP in York, told Pulse that a new primary care strategy due to be published in the autumn would look at how priorities set by health and wellbeing boards can be implemented with ‘wrap around’ services that include GPs, hospitals and community services potentially commissioned under a single joint contracts.

The proposals will come amid a raft of radical changes being considered for the GP contract, with Dr Geddes saying that NHS England was looking at reducing the proportion of practice income attributed to QOF, and moving away from annual contract negotiations with the GPC.

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