GP surgeries throughout the UK who challenged their notional rent in 2014 received average increases of 10% (£2,520 per year), statistics released today from GP Surveyors has found.
One of the largest increases in 2014 was 53% equating to £66,375 in total over three years. By comparison, the report found average increases of 9% (£3,602 per year) in 2013 and 9% (£3,291 per year) in 2012.
Chris Johnson, director at GP Surveyors, said: “This data shows that many GP surgeries continue to be significantly underfunded with regards to their notional rent reimbursement. Therefore, it is still very important that GP surgeries seek a second opinion at every notional rent review.”
Once the district valuer has checked the value of a GP practice on behalf of NHS England, GP surveyors can then double check this figure with their database, and if they feel a practice has been undervalued they can challenge it, so that the practice is given a higher notional rent from NHS England.
Alison Cheetham, practice manager at Shevington Surgery in Wigan, said: “We have had GP Surveyors conduct a notional rent review every time it is due. On each occasion they have managed to negotiate an increase for us. This goes to show that there is a chance you will receive a notional rent increase – even if you had an increase last time. It is therefore very important to seek a second opinion every three years.
“The reimbursement increases that we achieved for new clients were higher than those achieved for existing clients, which is to be expected, however any increase is very valuable to GP surgeries given the financial pressures that practices are under. Throughout 2015, we expect to negotiate similar notional rent increases for our clients, which will allow practices to put money back into improving patient experience.”
