The new practice-level reimbursement scheme will only cover salaried GPs and is limited to the financial year of 2026/27, the Government has confirmed.
Introduced as part of the 2026/27 GP contract, the funding scheme for England moves £292m from the PCN-level Capacity and Access Payment (CAP) directly to practices to help them recruit new GPs or pay for more sessions from doctors already working for them.
Details of how the scheme will work, set up with the aim of improving patient access, have now been released in an updated Statement of Financial Entitlements, published last week.
Under the initiative that runs from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027, practices are entitled to make a claim in relation to one or more of the following:
- the employment of ‘a new salaried GP’. This means they must not have been employed by the contractor in the preceding 12 months before the date of their claim unless it was to provide cover for absences such as maternity/ paternity/parental leave or sickness or study leave.
- the ‘increased participation’ of an existing salaried GP whose annualised sessions were previously less than nine sessions a week. Sessions can be increased to a maximum of nine a week.
- in the case of a contractor being a member of a PCN ‘to enable the continuation of employment or engagement’ of a salaried GP post previously funded through Capacity and Access Payments or via the PCN Test Sites programme, and where that money has now been stopped.
For a new salaried GP, the maximum that can be claimed to cover the salary and employer’s contribution for national insurance and pension is £152,900 (or £155,698 where London weighting applies).
Where a salaried GPs’ sessions are being increased, claims can be made up to a maximum hourly rate of £90.61 (or £92.27 where London weighting applies).
Total claims per contractor under the scheme are subject to a financial entitlement cap of £4.57 multiplied by the practice adjusted population per practice during the financial year ,the SFE has said.
However, a practice that is a core member of a PCN can transfer all or part of its funding entitlement to another practice in the same PCN to either hire a new salaried GP or continue with an existing salaried GP previously funded by PCN monies – after confirming in writing to NHS England.
Claims under the scheme cannot be made if a practice is already receiving other payments covering the same costs of the salaried GP, nor to provide cover for an absent GP performer, the SFE has said.
And practices with more than 3,500 patients per GP must seek approval from NHS England to be eligible to participate, the document added.
While some GPs have welcomed the diverting of funds to GP practice level, PCN managers have warned that removal of the CAP will have a major impact on networks and the services they provide.
The Association of Independent Specialist Medical Accountants (AISMA) is now also warning that practices in some of England’s most deprived areas could miss out on funding made available through the reimbursement scheme, because it is limited to salaried GPs and excludes ‘reimbursement for additional work performed by partners or locums’.
Andy Pow, adviser to the AISMA board, said: ‘This will impact smaller practices, rural and coastal practices that already have difficulty recruiting additional GP staff due to their location or size. We could see some of our most deprived communities missing out on funding for more doctors.’
Mr Pow also highlighted that since the scheme is not guaranteed beyond 31 March 2027 it ‘means practices need to take care when agreeing employment contracts to make sure they can be re-structured if funding ceases’.
Reimbursement claims must be made via the CQRS system within a three-month window, he added, which will ‘increase administrative workload and also risk non-payment if the window is missed’.
‘This is part of an increasing trend to narrow the time frame for claiming income that puts an increased risk on practices. Cashflow will also need to be managed since claims can only be made in arrears.’
Mr Pow also said: ‘Many practices and PCNs used Capacity and Access funding which has now ceased. There is no transitional support to wind down previously funded activity. This leaves practices and PCNs at risk of carrying the burden of unfunded costs.’
Meanwhile, the updated SFE has also set out new reimbursement rates for have been changed as follows:
Cover for a GP on maternity, paternity, adoption or shared parental leave
For the first two weeks – payments for cover from a locum or salaried GP rise from £1,475.17 max per week to £1,526.80 max per week
For each week afterwards – payments rise from £2,238.03 max per week to £2,316.37 max per week
Cover for a GP on sick leave – payments for locums or salaried GPs rise from £2,151.96 max a week to £2,316.37 max a week.
Locum cover for an absent suspended doctor – rises from £1,460.56 max a week to £1,511.68 max a week
Locum cover for a GP on prolonged study leave – rises from £1,460.56 max a week to £1,511.68 a week.
Educational allowance for a GP on prolonged study leave (at least 10 weeks but no more than 12 months) – rises from £172.52 a week to £178.56 a week
