GPs across the UK can have their say as the government makes a public appeal for help in updating the General Practice Premises Policy
The government is asking for the help of GPs in finding solutions for issues around general practice premises.
NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care have teamed up with the RCGP, GPC and others to review the current General Practice Premises Policy, and they have announced an open call for new ideas on the subject.
The aim of the review is to identify pain points within the current policy and ensure general practice premises are fit for purpose.
The review seeks to:
- Undertake a data collection exercise in order to inform the review outputs and identify where gaps in GP data exist at present
- Understand the issues and barriers affecting general practice estate
- Propose recommendations for the ownership and operating models for general practice estate, addressing any identified barriers and enabling the delivery of premises which are fit for current (and future) purpose
Some of the barriers for achieving suitable premises, which have already been identified in the review, are:
- The liabilities for GP partners associated with estate ownership or lease-holding
- A perception that estate ownership is unattractive and may be discouraging prospective GP partners from entering into partnerships
- Sub-optimal utilisation of estate
- That mixed use, particularly of new builds, can be difficult to achieve due to balance of liability across the different parties involved
- Revenue implications of estate preventing developments
The call for solution ideas from GPs began on 8 August and ends on 5 September.
NHS England is welcoming a range of proposals and has put together a ‘call for solutions‘ pack including further information regarding what the review team is looking for and how responses can be submitted (online or via post).
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