New primary care network contract won’t work, GPs warn

A proposed new contract for general practices to participate in primary care networks contains unrealistic demands and will pile new layers of bureaucracy on overstretched practices, GPs have warned.

NHS England and NHS Improvement published draft service specifications for the primary care networks directed enhanced service (DES) in a consultation released on 23 December.1 Practices that sign up from April 2020 will be required to provide five national services over a phased period of a year.

The draft document stipulates that from September 2020 GPs will have to visit patients in care homes at least once a fortnight as part of an enhanced care service in residential homes. And from April 2020 primary care networks will be expected to …