BMA update on NHS Property Services and Community Health Partnership
The BMA have advised that practices in NHS Property Services (NHSPS) and Community Health Partnership (CHP) premises may receive a letter demanding payment of outstanding invoices, in fact many practices have already received such letters. The BMA advise that if you receive this letter and continue to have concerns over the basis and level of the service charges incurred, you should respond asking NHSPS to provide some specific details; namely:
- Details of the specific legal basis upon which they believe the charges are payable, with reference to the terms of occupancy of the premises.
- Details and/or evidence to prove that the charges reflect the services used by the practice or in connection with their specific building.
- In so far as not answered by points 1 and 2, and to the extent relevant, a detailed explanation of why the practice is being asked to pay increased service charges compared to previous years.
The BMA are escalating the problems with NHSPS and CHP with a view to quickly bringing this issue to a sensible resolution. Their information and guidance can be found here.
Last month the BMA issued a freedom of information request to NHSPS and CHP to extract central information over their charging policies with a view to fully understanding why many practices are receiving invoices which appear to bear no resemblance to services used. The CHP response is expected in the new year and the NHSPS response has been received, but the BMA are seeking clarification on parts of the NHSPS response.
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