Commenting on today’s report from the National Audit Office on NHS England’s management of the primary care support services contract with Capita, Andrew Pow, board member of the Association of Independent Specialist Medical Accountants, said: “More than two and a half years into the contract, NHS England and Capita have still not agreed the basic principles about the service Capita is contracted to provide.

“Practices are still not being paid correctly, leavers and joiners are not being processed correctly and pension records are not being updated. GP practices and their managers are burdened with significant extra workload as a result of these problems.

“Urgent improvements are needed and confidence needs to be restored in the system so that practices know that they are being paid correctly and pension records are being updated.

“The question is, will the NAO’s recommendations change this disastrous situation?”

ENDS

In this month’s issue of Practice Management magazine, AISMA accountant Barbara Domanska, of MHA Moore and Smalley Nottingham, examines income streams and how practice managers should ensure they are paid for all the work carried out. Click here to download the full article

According to a new report released by Lloyds Bank, almost half of GPs expect their practice to merge within five years. Speaking to GPonline.com, Bob Senior, AISMA chairman, said: ‘The biggest challenge I see for most practices is sourcing enough personnel, which has meant increased workloads for many. That’s linked with the ongoing issue around GP succession, with practices struggling to replace GPs who are retiring and often ending up with a different mix of clinicians when they are unable to replace like with like.’ Read the full article on GPonline.com

The 31 July deadline for GPs to ask NHS Pensions to pay their annual allowance tax charge is fast approaching but accountants are warning that a toxic mix of tax rule changes will bring a sting in the tail for many doctors.

This year, for the first time, NHS Pensions may not allow the full amount of the tax due to be covered by the Scheme Pays facility. In previous years Scheme Pays has allowed doctors to ask NHS Pensions to pay all the tax charges arising from excessive pension growth from their pension pot in exchange for a lower pension in retirement, as long as the tax charge was over £2,000.

However, a change in the tax rules means those with taxable income over £110,000 may find their annual allowance tapered down from £40,000 to just £10,000. The £30,000 loss due to tapering cannot be covered by Scheme Pays and a tax charge of up to £13,500 must be met from doctors’ own personal funds. Only Scottish pension scheme members are able to adopt Scheme Pays on the whole amount.

James Gransby, board member of the Association of Independent Specialist Medical Accountants, and head of healthcare at MHA MacIntyre Hudson, said: “These tax charges were due on 31 January 2018 and are already attracting penalties and interest in the eyes of HMRC. However, the figures relate to the 2016/17 tax year and NHS Pensions are not yet in a position to send figures to members of the pension scheme to help them assess their position. Without specialist advice it will be almost impossible for most doctors to work out what tax they might owe.”

Mr Gransby went onto explain that every GP’s situation will be different and urged doctors who think they may be affected to get in touch with their accountant or financial adviser.

What is 24-hour retirement and how does it work? Writing in the latest issue of Practice Management magazine, specialist medical accountant and AISMA board member James Gransby offers facts and figures on 24-hour retirement for practice managers to share with their doctors. Click here to download the full article

A detailed analysis of the 2018/19 GMS contract has led accountants to predict that practices in England with static list sizes are likely to see a lower increase in funds than the 3.4% announced by NHS Employers on 20 March.

Luke Bennett, a director of the Association of Independent Specialist Medical Accountants, said: “0.8% of the investment is to allow for the predicted increase in the population. Therefore, a practice with a static list size might reasonably expect an increase of not 3.4%, but 2.6%.”

Mr Bennett, a partner at accountancy firm PKF Francis Clark, said that funding increases will depend on practices’ individual characteristics and sources of income since different increases will be applied to different income streams.

He added: “Practices will have to fund increases in expenses out of the increased income. Significantly, the NHS pay deal agreed by union leaders and ministers on 21 March is likely to lead to increases in staff salaries, particularly at the lower end of the pay scales.”

“While most practices are not contractually bound by the Agenda for Change pay rates, they are in many cases competing with secondary care to attract staff.”

Mr Bennett added: “All practices will see some sort of increase in funding and this is to be welcomed as a measure to help maintain financial stability for struggling practices. There may be a further uplift in funding once the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body has reported in May. It is hoped that the difficulties in recruiting and retaining GPs will be recognised in the DDRB report.”

ENDS

Notes for editors

For more information, please contact Rosalind Dewar:

T: 01580 764713
M: 07785 182732
E: rosalind@dewargreen.com

AISMA accountant Andrew Pow offers advice to practices experiencing financial issues arising from problems in the processing of income claims and pensions by Primary Care Support England. For a run-down of common issues to watch out for and tips on how to resolve them download the full article.

The government’s desire for GP practices to work at scale is putting them under enormous pressure to join large organisations. AISMA committee member Andrew Pow offers a checklist for practice managers involved in new models of care. Click here to download the full article.

Writing on the Pulse website, AISMA accountant James Gransby explains how a three-month break from locum work can lead to a hike in pension contributions. The rules were introduced on the 2017 Locum B form, which is used to pay over monthly pension contributions to the NHS pensions agency. They affect GP locums who are members of the 2015 pension scheme. Click here to visit the Pulse website to read the article in full.

Writing in the January issue of Practice Management magazine, AISMA accountant James Gransby gives an update on Making Tax Digital. Where do practice managers stand with the proposal to introduce quarterly tax returns, a key component of the new digitised tax system? Click here to download the full article