Healthcare Community news

Over the past year or so, some practices have had problems claiming reimbursement for drugs, such as flu vaccines. In particular, some have been told by ICBs or NHSE that their claims are too late and so can't be processed or paid. A common question is about the period within which claims for certain drugs can be submitted. What is the legal position?

It may not be as simple as the BMA suggests, and practices may well not be subject to a legal obligation to backdate any pay award, even if funding is notionally provided for them to do so.

A reflection on 2024, what the Community has achieved and what’s in store for 2025.

Over the past months I have had several enquiries from practices and LMCs on the theme of private work and how GPs can do more of it. So what are the constraints on GPs doing private work and can one get round them?

ICAEW’s revised CPD regulations came into effect on 1 November 2023. Here’s some helpful information to get started.

Sally Sidaway and Lisa Pennington discuss how you can help GPs master their practice’s cash flows.

The core contract funding increased from 1 April 2024 by 2.7% to £107.57 per weighted patient (or £102.46 per weighted patient after deducting the out of hours opt out). For a practice with a weighted list size of 10,000 patients, the additional funding amounts to approximately £27,000 per annum.

Over the past 12 months several pharmacies have seen a reduction in underlying gross profit margin. This has been caused by several factors, including purchase price inflation, reimbursement prices not keeping up with inflation and a reduction in controls around purchasing.

ICAEW’s annual Healthcare Conference returned this year with a number of sessions which covered a wide range of practical and technical issues.

HMRC has been consulting on a proposed reform to the current basis period method for taxation, which applies to unincorporated businesses and LLPs. They have drafted legislation and consulted on the proposed amendments. At the time of writing, it is expected that the reforms will be fully effective from the 2024/25 tax year, with 2023/24 being a transition year. These changes will affect all sole traders, unincorporated partnerships and LLPs who currently do not prepare their annual accounts to a reference date ending between 31 March and 5 April.