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The Department of Health is consulting on proposed changes to primary medical care contractual arrangements which will impact on Personal Medical Services (PMS) contractors from April 2013. This briefing summarises the changes and asks RCN members for feedback. 

Many nurses will have an interest in the delivery of primary care, particularly those involved with commissioning primary care services and those working as nurses within individual PMS practices. Significantly nurses are permitted to become partners within a PMS practice or form their own limited company, as long as at least one GP is a signatory on the contract. As contract holders, these nurses will have an interest in all the proposed changes as they affect the ways that funds are distributed to practices and the way that they earn income.

Practice nurses provide specialist roles in the fulfilment of many aspects of the current general practice contracts (in both the GMS and the PMS contracts) as well as QOF (for example immunisation, cervical screening, minor illnesses and chronic disease management). The proposals to increase the thresholds for many QOF indicators and the introduction of the new DESs could increase the workload for practice nurses.

For further information, please email papa.ukintl.dept@rcn.org.uk