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13 March 2025
The latest news and updates from NHS England for those working in Primary Care.
This week's issue covers:
A reminder of the changes to the GP Contract in 2025/26
Follow up on communication regarding GP registration and NHS screening
NHS Confederation’s Care Closer to Home conference
Primary care
COVID-19 vaccination seasonal site campaign guidance
COVID-19 vaccination seasonal site campaign guidance is now available on FutureNHS (login required). The guide provides key information to support both new and existing sites to prepare for a successful 2025 spring vaccination campaign.
£60m funding for research equipment
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has made up to £60m available for NHS organisations in England to pay for cutting-edge equipment, associated building refurbishment and modular buildings to enhance their ability to carry out innovative research.
Of the £60m available, £10 million has been ring-fenced for primary care organisations. For more information and details on how to apply, visit the NIHR website.
Primary care cyber readiness survey
The joint cyber unit within the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England would like to understand the cyber security readiness and capabilities of the primary care sector, including general practice, community pharmacy, optometry, and dentistry.
Colleagues supporting practices with IT, cyber or the data security and protection toolkit (DSPT), or those working with the primary care sector in general, are asked to complete a short survey by 6 April 2025. For further information, please contact england.jointcyberunit@nhs.net.
General practice
Changes to GP Contract in 2025/26
GP contract arrangements for 2025/26, which are supported by the BMA General Practice Committee England (GPCE), have been published.
Improving patients’ access to general practice is one of the NHS’s top priorities and the changes to the 25/26 GP contract will build on the work GP teams are doing to reform services, helping to ease workloads, and funded by an increase in investment of £889m, in 2025/26.
This equates to a 7.2% cash growth on the contract funding envelope (estimated 4.8% real growth on overall 24/25 contract costs) - the biggest increase in investment into general practice in over a decade. In addition there will be £80m invested for Advice and Guidance.
A recording of the general practice contract arrangements webinar which took place on Monday 3 March is available on FutureNHS (login required).
Follow up on communication regarding GP registration and NHS screening
A health system communication and Q&A (login required) was cascaded earlier this week about incomplete GP registrations meaning some patients may have missed some NHS screening invitations. This identified 5,261 people across 2,253 GP practices who are, or were, eligible for screening – an average of around 2 patients per practice.
Affected individuals have been added to the relevant screening IT systems and measures are in place to prevent future occurrences. NHS England has written directly to affected people to explain how to access screening. Practices do not need to do any proactive patient communication other than supporting with reactive queries and offering timely cervical screening catch up.
The communication asks GPs to check that ‘in flight’ and rejected registrations are resolved in GP Links. A rejected registration can be found in the GP Links workflow. Where resubmission is required, practices should obtain the additional information or edit the registration on the clinical system and resubmit through GP Links. If no patients are listed for resolution in GP Links, no further action is required. A step-by-step guide on how to do this will be available here shortly. Information about why a GP registration may be rejected is available here.
For further details, visit Primary Care Support England’s guidance on registration rejections.
Dentistry
Dental charges for 2025/26
As of 1 April 2025, the Department of Health and Social Care has confirmed there will be a price increase in England for NHS dental treatment.
The charges are set to rise by an average of 2.3 per cent. The amount payable for basic NHS dental care is set to rise by between 60p and £7.60.
British Dental Industry Association Dental Showcase - 14-15 March, ExCeL London
Meet Jason Wong, Chief Dental Officer for England, and the national team at the British Dental Industry Association Dental Showcase on 14-15 March where they will have a zone and theatre. The programme will include a diverse range of topics aimed at all members of the dental team.
Get involved
NHS Confederation’s Care Closer to Home conference
Bookings are now open for the NHS Confederation’s Care Closer to Home conference which will take place on 30 April in Birmingham. Bringing together health and care professionals and national and local experts, speakers include Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, Dr Amanda Doyle, NHS England’s Director of Primary Care and Community Services, Daniel Elkeles, Chief Executive of London Ambulance Service NHS Trust, and Richard Kirby, Chief Executive of Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
Endometriosis Action and Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
March marks two important awareness months for women’s health. Endometriosis UK has a list of ways people can get involved in Endometriosis Action Month - exploring how endometriosis can be better understood by the general public and better explained to patients by all healthcare practitioners.
Ovarian cancer can present in many ways and is not always obvious. It is important that patients, particularly over the age of 50, who experience abdominal pain and bloating present for review. Ovarian Cancer Action has a range of resources to help people spread the word during Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.
Podcast series aimed at primary care teams
Primary care colleagues including GPs, practice managers and community pharmacists explain why they are using new ways of working in a new podcast produced by NHS England – North East and Yorkshire.
The Transforming Primary Care series focuses on improvements that make it easier and quicker for patients to get the help they need, and reduce pressures on staff. A new episode on the multi-disciplinary team within Modern General Practice is now available.
Women’s health podcast – cardiovascular disease and menopause
To mark International Women’s Day, Health Innovation North East and Cumbria and NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board have collaborated on a podcast to spotlight women’s cardiovascular health.
In this episode, host Professor Julian Newton is joined by Dr Saira Malik and Tracy Marshall to explore the unique cardiovascular risk factors affecting women, discussing how menopause can impact CVD risk.
Updates
New interim Director of Patient Safety
Professor Ramani Moonesinghe will be stepping in as National Director of Patient Safety on an interim basis during Aidan Fowler’s secondment to the CQC, which was announced last month.
Ramani has been NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Critical and Perioperative Care since 2020, making significant contributions to patient safety and quality improvement. She is currently a consultant in anaesthetics, perioperative and critical care medicine at UCLH, as well as Professor and Head of her Research Department at UCL.
With extensive expertise in patient safety, research and clinical leadership, she leads an NIHR-funded Patient Safety Research Collaboration focused on innovation, clinical trials and policy evaluation. Her leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic was instrumental in national critical care efforts, including contributions to the government’s Ventilator Challenge.
Upcoming webinars and events
Various dates - National cardiac webinar series
18 March, 12.30pm–1.30pm - NASP webinar: Prescribe heritage | NASP
19 March, 12pm-1pm – Improving continuity of care with microteams
20 March, 12pm-1:30pm – Polypharmacy and learning disabilities masterclass
25 March, 12pm-1pm – Reducing inequalities in breast screening: LGBTQ+ webinar
26 March, 12pm-1pm – Reducing inequalities in cervical screening: LGBTQ+ webinar
8 April, 11.30am-12.30pm – NHS App national webinar
23 April, 7 May, 21 May – Polypharmacy action learning set cohort 23
29 April, 12.30pm-1.30pm – How group clinics deliver the 10 year plan: NHS Kent and Medway group clinic learning review
11-12 June – NHS Confed Expo
Catch up
Missed a recent national webinar? View slides and recordings below:
