The National Association of Primary Care (NAPC) is calling on the Government to rethink NHS England’s review of private medical services (PMS) and is holding a summit on the matter on 1 October to debate the funding issues faced by practices as a result of it.

The Association is concerned that thousands of GP jobs could be put at risk as a result of the reviews and is warning that there are ‘significant problems’ with the way they are being carried out in parts of the country.

So far, NHS England has ordered area teams to review £260m of PMS provision it says is not linked explicitly to extra patient services but NAPC has criticised the ‘illogical approaches’ to the review that, in some parts of the country, are leaving PMS practices unsupported.

A NAPC spokesman said that the investment in PMS has supported the employment of salaried GPs and nurse practitioners in disadvantaged areas but the funding cuts will mean the loss of thousands of GP and nurse appointments, thereby damaging patient care in the areas that need it most.

According to the Association, the way the review is being carried out is not particularly helpful either, as even when the increase in general medical services (GMS) baseline is taken into account, there is an average loss of as much as £80,000 per practice, which is inevitably going to lead to some real problems with GMS.

NAPC has been looking for reassurance from NHS England that the money will not be lost to primary care, but has heard nothing, which is why it is holding the summit next month. As the Association’s Chair said, this is a very serious issue, which needs to be managed, and, in his opinion, it is not being managed effectively by NHS England.