Patients across England are set to benefit from a £350 million investment in GP services.
The 2015/16 funding will deliver on the promise of a new deal for primary care, as highlighted in the NHS Five Year Forward View.
An additional 37 pilot schemes across England will be able to improve access to care for more than 10.5m patients as part of the expansion of the Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund (PMCF). This will mean the scheme will benefit a total of 18 million patients expanding on over seven million patients that are already benefitting from the 20 wave one pilots.
The successful schemes will trial a wide variety of ideas to improve convenience and access to GP services to fit round work and family life with more appointments in the evenings and at weekends, plus the option for video, email and telephone consultations and better use of telecare and health apps.
More than 1,000 GP practices across the country have had bids approved for funding in principle as part of the first tranche of the £1 billion, four-year Primary Care Infrastructure Fund.
