COVID funding guidance for general practice published
After months of significant pressure and lobbying of both government and NHSE/I by the BMA, it is good to see that the long delayed COVID fund has finally been released. This long overdue funding was and is needed to support practices that have been going above and beyond to continue caring for their patients in the face of the pandemic.
However, this package only covers until the end of July, and as we all know, the fight against COVID-19 is far from over. It does however set an important precedent. Both commissioners and NHSEI must guarantee that practices will continue to get all of the support and resources they need as we move into the latest phase of the pandemic. Furthermore, DHSC must urgently give practices more details on how they will be reimbursed for extra PPE they have had to acquire when national supplies fell far short of what was needed.
We are now urging those CCGs that have not already done so to act swiftly and provide practices with the funding for all the additional costs they’ve incurred. Funding will be provided to cover additional costs of:
· bank holiday opening (for Easter and May 8) including staff and non-staff costs
· services to care home residents (from 1 May to 30 September)
· additional capacity (from 23 March to 31 July) where supported by the Commissioner
· additional consumable expenses (including PPE)
· absence cover from day 1 (from 23 March to 31 July): practices which have provided full pay for employees who were unable to work will be able to claim the costs of cover
Practices should now:
· review additional costs already incurred and submit claims to the commissioner
· discuss with commissioners any anticipated further costs that might require approval
· keep records and evidence of additional costs
Read more about COVID funding in toolkit for GPs and practices