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Focus on premises costs

February 2004

• Appendix A - Department of Health briefing note
• Appendix B - Extract of the NHS (GMS - Premises Costs (England) Directions 2004
• Introduction
• Premises developments and improvements
• Professional fees and related costs incurred in occupying new or significantly refurbished premises
• Recurring premises costs
• Relocation grants
• Structure of the directions
• Transitional arrangements

Introduction
The long, and often confusing, sections of the Statement and Fees and Allowances relating to practice premises costs will from 1 April 2004 were replaced by the National Health Service (General Medical Services – Premises Costs) Directions 2004 - download here as a pdf - and will be referred to in this guidance note as the Directions.

The Welsh version of the Directions are available on the NHS Wales website

The Scottish and Northern Irish versions are available websites of the devolved health department.

• www.show.scot.nhs.uk/sehd
• www.dhsspsni.gov.uk

This guidance note gives GPs, practice staff and LMCs a brief and readable overview of the Directions. Readers are strongly advised also to refer to the Directions themselves when investigating specific issues, as this note does not replicate the Directions in full.

Readers may note the repeated use of the phrase “PCTs must consider applications for financial assistance towards…”. This must be seen in the context of the new premises funding arrangements, whereby all new developments and projects are prioritised on the basis of need. The goal of PCT’s estate strategies is to deliver year on year improvements in the quality of primary care estates. This is an NHS plan obligation, and so funding will follow the projects considered most urgent. The funding for new projects and developments will be held be a lead PCT in each Strategic Health Authority area.

The new premises funding arrangements are explained in full in the Department of Health briefing paper “New GMS contract and changes to the GP premises funding arrangements”, which is at Appendix A - to this guidance note, and in the joint Department of Health/National Primary and Care Trusts Development Programme guidance “Future funding for Primary Care Premises: A guide to the role of lead PCTs and SHAs”.