The Prime Minister's Challenge Fund was established in October 2013 with £50 million for

NHS England NHS England, officially the NHS Commissioning Board, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care. It oversees the budget, planning, delivery and day-to-day operation of the commissioning side of the ...

to help improve access to general practice and stimulate innovative ways of providing primary care services.

Pilots

Twenty pilots were announced in April 2014.

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

announced further funding of £100m for 2015/16 on 30 September 2014 for a second wave of 37 pilots. The fund has been used for a variety of projects: * A single front entrance and alterations to the Minor Injuries Unit at Newark Hospital for

Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was formed in 2001 and gained Foundation Trust status in 2007. It runs three hospitals in Nottinghamshire - King's Mill Hospital, Newark Hospital and Mansfield Community Hospital. It also operates ...

. * Seven day access and evening opening hours for Wigan Borough

Clinical Commissioning Group Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) were NHS organisations set up by the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to organise the delivery of NHS services in each of their local areas in England. On 1 July 2022 they were abolished and replaced by Integra ...

- and many similar schemes. * A virtual hub which patients will be able to use to speak to doctors without the need to go to A&E or wait for an appointment for SW Healthcare in Worcestershire.

Criticism

The rationale has been described by Harry Longman: * It's hard to get an appointment with your GP. * More opening hours would make it easier. * Let's provide 12 hours 8-8, 7 days a week. * We'll have to pay a lot but just do it. According to Longman the funding roughly doubles the capitation global sum for GPs who offer the scheme. It's a good deal for GPs, but, according to him, poor value for money because demand for primary care "typically starts quite high at 8am but tails off through the day and by 6 pm is very light" if there is sufficient supply during the day. A

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poll in June 2015 found the highest priorities for the general public were care for the elderly and access to GPs at weekends. An investigation by

Pulse (magazine) ''Pulse'' is a monthly news magazine and website on British primary care. It has been distributed without charge to general practitioners in the United Kingdom since 1960. Its stories are regularly picked up by national and regional newspapers. ...

in July 2015 found that many seven-day GP access pilot areas had reduced their extended hours in light of poor demand. In particular it appeared that there was very little demand for Sunday GP appointments and they had been abandoned in some places. Richard Murray of the

King's Fund The King's Fund is an independent think tank, which is involved with work relating to the health system in England. It organises conferences and other events. Since 1997, they have jointly funded a yearly award system with GlaxoSmithKline. Th ...

hopes that working differently, on the basis of the pilot schemes (rather than just working harder) may hold the key to problems of access to primary care.

References

External links

Prime Minister's Challenge Fund
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prime Minister's Challenge Fund General practice Health policy in the United Kingdom National Health Service (England)