NHS Employers and the BMA announce guidance on five new directed enhanced services (DES) - 4 Sept 08
NHS Employers and the BMA announce guidance on five new directed enhanced services (DES) - 4 Sept 08 Notes Further news... NHS Employers - Source http://tinyurl.com/6x43sl Directed Enhanced Services (DES) are special services or activities provided by GP practices that have been negotiated nationally. All practices can choose whether or not to provide these services. The following DESs have been agreed for 2008/09: Five new clinical DESs: The DH is currently drafting the legal documentation for the five clinical DESs. In the interim, the detailed guidance aims to support PCT discussions with practices on providing these DESs. You can find more details on the inflationary uplift and Access DES on the DH website. The Department of Health has issued guidance to PCTs and strategic health authorities that clarifies the detail of the access DES. In particular:
NHS Employers, which represents trusts in England on workforce issues, and the General Practitioners Committee (GPC) of the BMA have published joint guidance to primary care trusts and general practices on the five new clinical directed enhanced services (DES) for 2008/09.
The new clinical directed enhanced services are being funded by £50m which has been specifically earmarked for this purpose. The five new DES are;
• measures to improve treatment of heart failure;
• spreading best practice on osteoporosis treatment;
• annual health checks for people with learning disabilities on local authority registers;
• better data recording to help improve patient care for people from black and minority ethnic groups;
• increased support to overcome harmful drinking.
The £50m forms part of the £105m investment in GP services agreed as part of the 2008/09 General Medical Services (GMS) contract negotiations.
Andrew Clapperton, Head of Primary Care Contracting, NHS Employers, said:
“We are pleased that guidance on the five new direct enhanced services (DES) for 2008/09 has now been agreed and published. This will allow Primary Care Trusts and general practices to finalise their plans for 2008/09 and put in place services that will benefit these patient groups.”
Dr Laurence Buckman, Chairman of the BMA’s GP Committee, said:
“We are pleased that this guidance has been finalised so that GPs can plan how their practices are going to work with these new enhanced services.”
1. NHS Employers represents trusts in England on workforce issues and helps to ensure that the NHS is a place where people want to work.
2. For more information on the five new directed enhanced services (DES) and to view the NHS Employers/BMA joint guidance please visit www.nhsemployers.org/pay-conditions/primary-893.cfm
3. The Department of Health has today also published a number of documents that support the implementation of other parts of the GMS contract agreement including;
• final guidance and the legal documentation supporting the extended opening hours DES;
• legal amendments to support the implementation of the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body (DDRB) pay recommendation for 2008/09, which will be in effect from October.
4. For more information on the final guidance and legal documentation supporting the extended opening hours DES please visit
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_087557
5. For more information on the legal amendments to support the implementation of the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body DDRB pay recommendation for 2008/09 please visit
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsLegislation/DH_087635
• Heart Failure DES - improving the treatment of heart failure and including incentives to provide beta-blockers to appropriate patients. Practices will get £35 per patient treated under this DES.
Alcohol DES - helping to reduce the risk of adults, aged 16 years or over, drinking at 'hazardous and harmful levels' defined by the World Health Organisation. Practices will get £2.33 for each new registered patient that has been screened.
• Learning Disabilities DES - annual health checks for people on the local authority learning disability register. To participate in this DES, practices need to attend a multi professional education session run by their PCT. Practices will get £100 for every health check.
• Osteoporosis DES - encouraging practices to diagnose and prescribe appropriate pharmacological secondary prevention for patients with osteoporosis. Payments will be based on three criteria covering diagnoses and treatment. The payment per average practice that meets all three criteria is £588.21
• Ethnicity DES - rewarding practices for recording the ethnicity and first language of all the patients on their practice list. Practices will get 5.6p per registered patient
* Extended Opening Hours Access DES - practices are rewarded for providing around 3 hours extra appointment time per average practice a week, at times that suit the needs of their patients. Practices are paid £2.95 per registered patient. The Department of Health (DH) has issued more detailed guidance to PCTs
* IM&T DES (rolled over from 2007/08) - practice eligibility to receive one-off payments will continue for England for 2008/09. The Department of Health (DH) has amended the Statement of Financial Entitlements (SFE) to allow PCTs to make payments until 31 March 2009
Access DES
• it explains how PCTs with existing local schemes should discuss these with the relevant practice(s)
• it highlights some key issues that PCTs should consider when commissioning extended hours such as the provision of linked services, safety and security and religious and cultural sensibilities
• the guidance provides a clear definition of the requirements of the DES, including detail about how the extended opening hours should be calculated and how the hours should be provided
• it describes how PCTs should monitor performance and delivery of the DES and instructs PCTs how to monitor the progress of the DES using Unify2
• it explains the payment arrangements for the DES.
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