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As you know, under GP IT Futures, the administration of the General Medical Servics contract IT investment commitment has changed. Where budgets were centrally held and buyers are given access to a very small number of accredited solutions with the centre controlling the budget, now each CCG receives a fair allocation of budget representing a share of the whole central budget and is free to select funding to support a wide range of products.
We have not however fully delegated budget responsibility, so CCGs will not physically receive the funding allocation
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If a CCG enters into call-off agreements with a total value that exceeds its funding allocation, the excess will be invoiced by the supplier directly to that CCG.
In order to access the funding allocation:
- All practices must have in place either
- A GPITF call-off agreement for provision of a Foundation Catalogue Solution Set; or
- A GPSoC [call-off] agreement for a principal clinical system that has not yet achieved compliance under GPITF.
Further constraints planned to be imposed upon CCGs in order to access the funding allocations are under review in the light of the current issues facing the health sector and the impact they may have on the levels of procurement activity during the financial year 20/21.
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, instead;
- Each CCG 'qualifies' for access to their allocation by meeting the simple criteria below
- Each CCG or Authority Organisation contracts on their own behalf
- Invoices are managed and paid between NHS Diigital and DHSC so long as the CCG (as the agent receiving the allocation) remains within the allocation budget
- Where a CCG spends in excess of the allocated budget, or wishes to use separate funding streams for a purchase then they should contract in the usual way, but make separate arrangements for the payment of invoices which will not be managed by NHS Digital.
At the present time, in order to qualify for receipt of the allocation
- Each relevant Practice within scope of the funding must have a Foundation Solution in place (an ex GPSoC system which has not acheived compliance under GPIT Futures terms will fulfill this condition also during Financial Year 2020/21)
- Each CCG must not be operating under the Continuity Call Off Contract/s signed on their behalf
However as a result of the disruption to normal services associated with the COVID-19 and the consequential impact on your likely ability to undertake either procurement activity at scale or significant business change during this period we are looking to revise the above position as regards qualification criteria for access to the allocated budgets and will advise you of these revisions shortly - updating this page as we do so.
Further details on the rules relating to the allocations will be released shortly.