A straw poll taken by EHI Primary Care has revealed an enthusiastic take-up among PCTs of the Department of Health’s (DH) offer of £6000 per practice incentive payments for preparation work on Choose and Book.
Dorset & Somerset SHA told EHIPC that all nine of its primary care trusts have applied for the incentive money.
"It will help GPs gear up for the next stage," said the spokesperson, who added that practices will also be putting some of the money aside should it be approved.
The funds, which will total a maximum of £1.1m if every practice receives the £6000 payment, will be spent in Dorset & Somerset on infrastructure and hardware to support Choose and Book systems, such as label printers.
In Northumberland, Tyne & Wear SHA, all six PCTs have also applied for the incentive payments and the SHA is currently waiting to hear back from the DH. Yvonne Storey, spokesperson for the authority, told EHI Primary Care: "The first target was very much about doing the groundwork and putting everything in place."
West Yorkshire SHA have also reported that all 15 of its PCTs applied for the incentive payment, and are awaiting a decision on the incentive awards.
Every PCT covered by the four London SHAs has also applied. A spokesperson for South East London SHA told EHI Primary Care: "We believe all PCTs in London achieved the criteria for elgibility for the first tranche of the national Choose and Book Incentive Scheme. Subject to confirmation from the Department of Health, each PCT should receive a sum equivalent to £6k per GP practice in due course."
The £6,000 per practice payment is the first portion of the £95m set aside to encourage GPs to take up Choose and Book. It is conditional on 30 per cent of GPs registering for the service, and commissioning rules and the Directory of Services being updated to enable referral to more than four providers. All the applications from PCTs are reviewed and approved by each SHA before being forwarded to the DH.
A spokesperson for the DH said that the exact number of PCTs who had applied for the incentive payments was unavailable at present, but they were hoping to announce the figure soon.
PCTs’ applications are subject to audit, which may involve cross-checking with Choose and Book extracts and QM08/QM08R data. It will be up to the individual PCTs to decide how to spend the money should they receive it.
The deadline for PCTs to send their applications for the funding to the SHAs was 15 July. SHAs then had two weeks to review and forward the applications to the DH. The DH said: "All pro-formas have been received and payment will be made via SHAs as soon as practically possible."
The second incentive payment of £100,000 will be available to each PCT when GPs are using Choose and Book for half their referrals. The DH told EHIPC it was currently unable to give any further information about applications relating to the second award.