Extended hours DES update
The 2017/18 changes to the GP contract included the condition that meant practices who regularly close for a half day, on a weekly basis, will not ordinarily qualify to deliver the Extended Hours DES.
The contract was not specific on what ‘open’ means. Ros Roughton, NHS England’s Director of NHS Commissioning told MPs on 10 March her view was that services which met the level of ‘reasonable needs’ of patients were:
“...[as a patient] you should be able to phone your practice and book an appointment, pick up a prescription, drop off a specimen. If results come into the practice that require urgent attention there should be someone there to pick that up...”
Londonwide LMCs has further discussed this with NHS England and conclude that in order to satisfy the requirements of being 'open' and qualify to deliver the Extended Hours DES, practices should ensure that:
- the practice door should be open during core hours, ie, 8:00am-6:30pm
- a receptionist should be on duty
- the telephone should be answered by a person in the practice
- as a minimum, the patient should be able to book appointments at reception or by phone, collect and drop in repeat prescription requests/insurance forms/specimens and ask about test results
- a doctor should be contactable for urgent advice. This does not necessarily mean that the doctor must be at the practice premises but that he/she must be contactable to provide the patient with urgent advice. The clinical decision may be to advise the patient on appropriate management of their condition, and to determine when and where the patient should be appropriately seen
As was originally agreed between NHS England and the General Practitioners Committee, if a practice wants to participate in the extended hours DES but felt it necessary to close for half a day, their case would be looked at on its own merits, eg, a branch practice may not need to be kept open.
If you have any queries about this, please contact gpsupport@lmc.org.uk.
Last updated : 24 Oct 2017Places going fast at Londonwide LMCs’ annual conference on 20 April 2016 - don't miss out, book your place today (04 Feb 2016)
Mword - Issue 27 - February 2016 now available (04 Feb 2016)
4 February 2016 Dear Colleague, If not now, when? Saturday’s Special Conference of LMCs effectively declared...Junior doctors industrial action (20 Jan 2016)
The junior doctors’ strike on Tuesday 12 January drew widespread support from the public and across the medical profession. At the time of writing the 26 January strike has...Special LMC Conference motions (20 Jan 2016)
The motions for the Special LMC Conference 2016 are now public and can be found in the agenda for the day. The conference is on Saturday 30 January at...Queen’s Nursing Institute survey of GP nurses (20 Jan 2016)
The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) launched a major new report on general practice nursing on Monday 18 January. The report is based on an online survey completed by over 3,400...Londonwide LMCs' January 2016 Newsletter now available (20 Jan 2016)
Londonwide LMCs NewsletterNational record movement trial by Primary Care Support England (19 Jan 2016)
Primary Care Support England (PCSE) is conducting a national record movement trial using a blank document in place of a medical record. This is in preparation for a new system...RCGP North and West London events coming up (19 Jan 2016)
Minor surgery including DOPS refresher course – one day course: 10 February at the Medical Society of London This one day course designed by GPs, plastic surgeons, dermatologists and GPwSIs...Health Select Committee highlights confusion among Ministers regarding primary care (19 Jan 2016)
On Tuesday 13 January Alistair Burt MP, primary care Minister at the Department of Health, appeared before the Health Select Committee to give evidence as part of their Inquiry into...Practice Manager Leads Forum (PMLF) – 28 January 2016 (19 Jan 2016)
The next forum will take place on Thursday 28 January 2016 at 9.30am. If you are a lead practice manager and currently represent practice managers at a LMC, Federation or...Guidance
We provide expert guidance for practices in our guidance section, as well as an archive of other materials you may find useful.
GP Support
Contact our GP Support team if you need help or advice.
The team provide professional and pastoral support to GPs and practice teams on a broad range of issues.