What's changed

• Nothing new. For EMIS Web, Enterprise Search & Reports lets PCNs, federations and ICSs search across participating EMIS Web and EMIS-X organisations without logging in to each practice's system.
• Access is controlled through role-based permissions, electronic sharing agreements and audit trails. Output can be patient-identifiable, pseudonymised or anonymised.
• TPP says SystmOne reports can be shared with other practices in a PCN.

Who it affects

PCN managers and clinical directors who want network-wide figures for recalls, QOF, enhanced services or vaccination uptake.

What to do

• Decide the purpose of each search first. Many network questions only need counts, not patient lists.
• Agree with member practices, in writing, who can create, run and view reports, and when identifiable output is justified.
• For EMIS Web, check with your ICB or supplier whether Enterprise Search & Reports is already in place locally, as the supplier lists it as an extra that requires EMIS Web.
• For SystmOne, share tested report definitions with member practices so everyone runs the same logic, and use scheduled runs where practices want regular results.

Sources

• Enlivio Health (formerly EMIS): Enterprise Search & Reports
• TPP: Reporting

What's changed

• The DSPT standard for 2026/27 (version 9) was published on 2 Oct 2026.
• GP practices are category 4 organisations. Their requirements are in the assertions and evidence spreadsheet for categories 2, 3 and 4, now at v1.1.
• Version 1.1 updates requirement 10.2.1 for category 3 and 4 organisations.

Who it affects

Every GP practice in England that completes the DSPT, and PCN leads who support practices with information governance.

What to do

• Download the version 9 assertions and evidence spreadsheet for categories 2 to 4 and read the change log against version 8.
• Check what requirement 10.2.1 now asks for, and who in the practice will provide the evidence.
• Book your data security lead onto a DSPT webinar. Sessions for GPs and other smaller organisations run on Tuesdays from 20 Oct 2026 to 15 June 2027, 12:30 to 13:15.
• Set an internal target date well before the deadline so evidence can be gathered without a rush in June.

Deadline

The 2026/27 toolkit must be published by 30 June 2027.

Sources

• DSPT: Outcomes, Assertions and Evidence items for the Data Security and Protection Toolkit 2026-27 version 9
• DSPT: DSPT webinars for 2026-7

What's changed

• PCSE is asking practices to review Locum A forms quickly. A locum GP cannot complete a Locum B form or pay pension contributions until the practice approves the Locum A.
• Under NHS Pension Scheme rules, freelance locum work that ended more than 10 weeks ago cannot be pensioned, so practice delays can cost locums pension.
• PCSE expects the 2025/26 Type 2 self-assessment form to be available in PCSE Online in November 2026. Nothing needs submitting yet.

Who it affects

GP practices in England that use freelance locum GPs, plus salaried GPs and partners who will complete 2025/26 end of year forms.

What to do

• Check who holds the GPP Locum Applications role in PCSE Online and give it to more than one person to cover leave.
• Clear any Locum A forms waiting for approval.
• Ask your GPs to confirm they can log in to PCSE Online before the forms open.
• Ask GPs to check, under Performers List and then Performer Management, that they were linked to the right practices for 2025/26, and correct any errors now.

Sources

• PCSE: GP Practice Update, October 2026
• PCSE: GP and GP Practice news

What's changed

• From 1 Oct 2026 to 31 Mar 2027, practices can claim for eligible GP locum sessions. Claims are capped at the lower of actual hourly cost or £78.41 an hour (£79.84 with London weighting).
• Practices can now transfer all or part of their entitlement to another practice, inside or outside their PCN, using the Transfer of Financial Entitlement form sent to the ICB.
• Extra sessions agreed with existing salaried GPs between 30 Apr and 24 Jun 2026 can be claimed at up to £90.61 an hour (£92.27 in London) until 31 Mar 2027, following a corrected SFE error.

Who it affects

GP practices in England using, or planning to use, the practice level GP reimbursement scheme, worth £4.57 per adjusted patient for 2026/27.

What to do

• Check your entitlement and how much you have claimed so far in CQRS Local.
• If you will not use it all, discuss a transfer to another practice with your PCN and ICB.
• Check locum sessions you plan to claim meet the scheme rules, including the limit of 9 sessions a week for any one GP.
• If you agreed extra sessions between 30 Apr and 24 Jun 2026, check your claims use the higher hourly rate.

Deadline

The scheme runs until 31 Mar 2027, so claims must relate to sessions up to that date.

Sources

• NHS England: Supplementary information to support changes to the 2026/27 GP contract

What's changed

• Annex G of the GMS Statement of Financial Entitlements has new dispensing fee scales from 1 Oct 2026. Fees are set per prescription in bands, worked out separately for each dispensing practitioner.
• For practices authorised or required to dispense, the fee runs from 239.1p for up to 487 prescriptions down to 211.8p for 4,872 and over.
• A separate scale applies to contractors that are not authorised or required to dispense, from 249.2p down to 221.8p.
• Both scales drop slightly from 1 April 2027, for example to 236.6p and 246.6p in the lowest band.

Who it affects

GMS dispensing practices in England, and other practices paid under the non-dispensing scale. The directions were signed on 30 Sep 2026 and apply in England only.

What to do

• Check which scale applies to your practice and which bands your dispensing practitioners usually fall into.
• Update your income forecast for the rest of 2026/27 using the new rates from October.
• Build the lower 2027/28 rates into next year's budget now.
• Check your first payment after October against the new scale and query any difference with your ICB.

Sources

• GOV.UK: General Medical Services Statement of Financial Entitlements Directions
• DHSC: GMS Statement of Financial Entitlements (Amendment) (No. 4) Directions 2026 (PDF)

What's changed

• From 1 Oct 2026, staff have six months rather than three to bring an Employment Tribunal claim. For breach of contract claims in Scotland the change starts on 9 Nov 2026.
• From 30 Oct 2026, employers must take "all reasonable steps" to prevent sexual harassment of employees, and must not permit harassment by third parties.
• From January 2027, the unfair dismissal qualifying period falls to six months and the cap on compensatory awards is removed.

Who it affects

Practices and PCNs as employers in England, Scotland and Wales. The third-party duty is likely to matter most for reception and other patient-facing teams.

What to do

• Review your harassment policy so it covers patients, relatives and contractors, and sets out how staff report incidents.
• Record the steps you take to prevent harassment, such as training, notices and how you act on reports.
• Keep employment records and notes of disputes for longer, given the six month claim window.
• Check probation and dismissal processes ahead of the January 2027 change.

Deadline

The new duty to prevent sexual harassment starts on 30 Oct 2026.

Sources

• GOV.UK: Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act timeline update
• legislation.gov.uk: Employment Rights Act 2025, section 158 (extent)

What's changed

• NHS England updated the GP digital services operating model to version 6.02 on 25 Sept 2026.
• Any servers still based in practice premises should move to secure cloud services by 31 March 2027. ICBs must also agree plans to move local data and application hosting to secure cloud, and to move to the NHS.Net (Microsoft 365) tenant for directory services, by the same date.
• New guidance sets out what the annual practice IT review with your ICB should cover, from devices and wi-fi to business continuity and sub-contractors.

Who it affects

GP practices in England, their ICBs and GP IT delivery partners. PCNs may want to coordinate where practices share kit or premises.

What to do

• List any servers kept on site, including those used for practice business systems, and raise them with your ICB.
• Ask your ICB when your annual practice IT review is due, and prepare a list of devices, services and sub-contractors you use.
• Review your business continuity plan before the review so you can discuss gaps.
• Confirm the practice has a named partner or senior employee responsible for data and cyber security.

Deadline

Remaining practice-based servers should be moved to secure cloud services by 31 March 2027.

Sources

• NHS England: Securing excellence in primary care (GP) digital services: the primary care (GP) digital services operating model

What's changed

• Nothing new. The ICO says a breach that is likely to put people's rights and freedoms at risk must be reported without undue delay and within 72 hours of becoming aware of it.
• Sending a letter to the wrong person or losing a device holding personal data both count as breaches.
• If you decide a breach is not reportable, you must be able to justify that decision, and you must record every breach either way.

Who it affects

All UK practices and PCNs. In England, practices can use the incident reporting tool in the DSPT for the initial notification.

What to do

• Tell staff to report a suspected breach internally straight away, even if they are unsure. NHS England's guidance asks staff to raise breaches as soon as they become apparent.
• Keep a breach log covering the facts, the effects and what you did about it, including breaches you did not report.
• If you cannot finish investigating within 72 hours, notify on time and send further details in phases.
• If the risk to people is high, tell those affected directly, in plain language, with practical steps they can take. After the initial DSPT notification, send updates to the ICO directly, as the DSPT entry cannot be edited.

Sources

• ICO: Personal data breaches: a guide
• DSPT: Frequently asked questions
• NHS England: Information governance and data protection

What's changed

• On 14 Sept 2026 CQC reviewed progress one year after the Oliver McGowan Code of Practice, which sets out how registered providers should meet the training requirement on learning disability and autism.
• CQC says uptake varies across the country, and that many primary care providers still have much to do to train their staff.
• Registration teams now check this when assessing applications to register.

Who it affects

All services carrying out a CQC-regulated activity, which includes GP practices in England. PCNs employing staff who see patients should check their own teams too.

What to do

• Pull a training report for the whole team, including reception and admin staff, and find who has not completed learning disability and autism training.
• Set a plan and dates to close the gaps, and record completion so you can show it at inspection.
• Read CQC's guidance on training staff to support autistic people and people with a learning disability.
• Consider adding practice-specific content, as CQC notes some providers have done to reflect their own setting.

Sources

• CQC: Mandatory training requirement on learning disability and autism

What's changed

• CQC drafted separate assessment frameworks by sector, including one for primary care and community services. Feedback on the drafts closed on 12 June 2026.
• Voluntary pilots of the new approach ran from June to October 2026, with final evaluation planned for November 2026. Pilot judgements do not affect a provider's rating.
• On 27 Aug 2026 CQC said its board had approved plans to rebuild its digital services, including the provider portal, and to develop new frameworks, guidance and methods. It plans sector-specific engagement in the autumn.

Who it affects

All CQC-registered GP practices in England. No date has been given for the new frameworks to take effect.

What to do

• Carry on preparing against CQC's current published guidance until CQC confirms a start date for the new approach.
• Read the draft primary care and community services framework so the changes are not a surprise.
• Sign up to CQC provider bulletins to hear about the autumn engagement and the portal changes.
• Tell your practice team that pilot activity does not change existing ratings.

Sources

• CQC: Rebuilding our regulatory approach and digital services
• CQC: Piloting, testing and evaluation of new assessment method
• CQC: Give your views on draft sector-specific assessment frameworks

What's changed

• Since 1 August 2026, PCSE only accepts requests to change practice bank details on its new standard bank mandate form. Emails, letters on headed paper and older forms are refused.
• Only the GP Principal, non-GP Partner, Statements and Practice User Management roles in PCSE Online can submit a request.
• Every active GP partner must sign the declaration. For APMS and other non-partnership models, the ICB validates the request first. PCN bank mandates also move to a standard format.

Who it affects

GP practices and PCNs in England paid through PCSE, particularly any changing bank, merging or changing partners.

What to do

• Download the current form from the PCSE website and delete any older copies saved locally.
• Check who in your practice holds one of the approved PCSE Online roles.
• Collect signatures from all active partners before you submit, as incomplete forms are returned.
• If your contractual statement does not match your bank statement, check the ICB and NHS England elements first, then contact your ICB or regional team.

Sources

• PCSE: GP Practice Update, August 2026
• PCSE: GP Practice Update, June 2026
• PCSE: GP and GP Practice news

What's changed

• CQC revised GP mythbuster 23 on 12 Aug 2026 to reflect updated NHS Counter Fraud Authority guidance on managing prescription forms.
• The updated guidance says all prescriptions should be taken out of printer trays and locked away when not in use or out of hours.
• Inspectors expect prescribers and staff who handle forms to be able to explain how the practice keeps blank forms secure, in line with national guidance.

Who it affects

GP practices in England that hold blank computer prescription forms or handwritten pads. Inspectors look at this under the safe key question.

What to do

• Check your stock records show forms received, serial numbers, where and to whom they were issued, and any returned or destroyed.
• Make sure stock is kept at least in a locked cabinet within a lockable room, with access limited to named staff.
• Agree a routine for clearing printer trays at the end of each session and overnight, or use lockable printers or drawers.
• Confirm staff know what to do if forms go missing, and that your policy covers home visits and branch sites.

Sources

• CQC: GP mythbuster 23: Security of blank prescription forms

What's changed

• The Scottish Government has accepted the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration (DDRB) recommendations in full for 2026/27.
• GPs, consultants, specialty, specialist and SAS doctors, and dentists get a 3.5% increase. Salaried community and public dental staff get 3.75%.
• The award is backdated to 1 April 2026 and was expected to reach salaries at the end of September.

Who it affects

GP practices in Scotland, including partners and practices that employ salaried GPs. The announcement does not say how the uplift reaches practices or whether it covers other practice staff. It is separate from the £531 million general practice funding package agreed in October 2025, which the government says is not a pay deal.

What to do

• Check whether your salaried GP contracts link pay to the DDRB award, and plan the backdated uplift from 1 April 2026.
• It may help to check with your health board how and when the uplift will reach practice payments before you change payroll.
• The announcement does not cover other practice staff, so partners will need to decide what uplift, if any, to give them.
• Consider allowing for the backdated sums in your 2026/27 accounts.

Sources

• Scottish Government: NHS pay awards
• Scottish Government: £531 million investment in General Practice

What's changed

• Nothing new in the basics. The ICO updated its subject access guidance in July 2026 to reflect the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
• You must respond without undue delay and within one month of receiving the request. You can extend by up to two further months if the request is complex or the person has made several requests, but you must tell them within the first month and say why.
• If you reasonably need clarification, the clock pauses from the day you ask and restarts the day after you get a reply.

Who it affects

All UK GP practices handling requests for copies of records, including requests made by solicitors or other third parties on a patient's behalf.

What to do

• Train reception and admin staff to recognise a request in any form. It can be verbal or written, including on social media, and needs no special wording.
• Log verbal requests as soon as they are made, with the date received.
• Ask for ID only where it is reasonable and proportionate. The clock does not start until you receive information you have asked for, such as ID or a third party's proof of authority.
• Do not charge a fee as standard. A reasonable fee is only allowed for manifestly unfounded or excessive requests, or for further copies.

Sources

• ICO: A guide to subject access

What's changed

• CQC launched a Learning from practice series on 30 July 2026. The first case studies come from GP services, drawn from inspections and from visits by its chief inspector for primary care.
• Topics include cancer screening awareness with a local community, multilingual support to improve attendance at childhood asthma reviews, and working with a patient group to reach people left behind by digital-first services.
• More case studies from other sectors are planned.

Who it affects

GP practices and PCNs in England looking for examples of what CQC regards as good practice.

What to do

• Read the GP case studies and pick one or two that match a gap in your own services.
• Share the digital exclusion example with your patient participation group if online access is a local concern.
• Note any approaches you already use that are similar, and keep evidence of their impact for your next assessment.
• Sign up to CQC provider bulletins to hear when new case studies are added.

Sources

• CQC: Learning from practice: innovation in primary and community care

What's changed

• Nothing new. NHS England guidance says practices are contractually required to give patients online access to new (prospective) record entries, including medications, test results, appointments and letters.
• Historic data is not covered by this requirement.
• Access does not have to be given where it would not be provided under GDPR, or where the patient has said they do not want it.

Who it affects

GP practices in England and every staff member who adds information to the record, including admin staff filing letters and results.

What to do

• Remind all staff, including locums, that they should consider the impact of each entry as they add it. Entries can be hidden temporarily or permanently where appropriate.
• Agree how you identify patients for whom access could cause serious harm or distress, and make sure safeguarding leads review them.
• Work through the GP readiness checklist that NHS England links from the same page, and fill any gaps it shows.
• Use the supplier guidance for EMIS Web or SystmOne, linked from the NHS England page, for the exact steps to hide or redact an entry in your system.

Sources

• NHS England: Online access to new GP health record information

What's changed

• NHS England updated its 2026/27 QOF guidance on 13 July 2026. The clinical domain carries 437 points and the public health domain 145.
• New indicators include CD001 and CD002 (blood pressure control in CHD, stroke or TIA, replacing separate CHD and STIA indicators), DM037 (all eight diabetes care processes), HF009 (four-pillar therapy in reduced ejection fraction heart failure) and obesity indicators OB004 and OB005. The Weight Management Enhanced Service ended on 31 March 2026.
• AF006's upper threshold rises to 95%. HYP010 and HYP011 now exclude moderately or severely frail patients. The asthma register starts at age 5.
• VI001 to VI003 gain an improvement route: practices can earn points for raising uptake at least 5 percentage points above their own baseline, whichever calculation pays more. MMRV now counts alongside MMR.

Who it affects

All practices in England taking part in QOF, and PCNs supporting recall work.

What to do

• Update your searches and recall templates for the retired IDs: CHD015, CHD016, DM012, HF003, HF006, HYP008, HYP009, NDH002, STIA014 and STIA015.
• Review your heart failure register to find patients with reduced ejection fraction not on all four drug classes.
• Once it appears in CQRS, check your childhood immunisation baseline so you know what a 5 point improvement means for you.
• Use only SNOMED codes. Local or practice-specific codes are not picked up by QOF reporting.

Deadline

QOF achievement is measured on 31 March 2027.

Sources

• NHS England: Quality and Outcomes Framework guidance for 2026/27
• NHS England: Quality and Outcomes Framework guidance for 2026/27 (PDF, July update)

What's changed

• In a case study published by TPP in April 2026, a practice built a report finding patients who had a referral letter generated but no matching referral code added afterwards.
• Referrals had sometimes slipped through between a GP writing the letter and the secretaries sending it. The practice started with Two Week Wait referrals.
• The report runs automatically each week using Batch Reporting, and SystmOne creates a task for the secretarial team with the patient list to work through.

Who it affects

Practices using SystmOne, especially those where referral letters pass between clinicians and an admin team.

What to do

• Map your referral steps and note which code, if any, is added when a referral is actually sent. The report only works if that step is coded consistently.
• Build a report for patients with a referral letter but no sent code, starting with your highest-risk referral type.
• Test it with your management team before handing it over. The practice in the case study tested for two weeks before rolling it out.
• Schedule it weekly and route the results as a task to a named team, not an individual. TPP's reporting page says reports can be scheduled with a notification when results are ready.

Sources

• TPP: Building safety nets with smart reporting at Trinity and Bowthorpe Medical Practice
• TPP: Reporting

What's changed

• Nothing new. NHS England describes the DSPT as a mandatory annual self-assessment against the National Data Guardian's 10 data security standards.
• The DSPT FAQs say a PCN should complete its own DSPT only if it is a separate organisation that processes health data and takes legal responsibility for that processing.
• Where a member practice, such as the lead practice, takes that responsibility, that practice should include the PCN's processing in its own submission.

Who it affects

PCN managers and clinical directors in England, and the practice manager of whichever practice holds the PCN's data responsibilities.

What to do

• Write down which organisation is legally responsible for the PCN's data processing, using your network agreement and data sharing arrangements.
• If it is a member practice, make sure that practice's DSPT covers PCN activity, such as shared staff and network-wide services.
• If the PCN is a separate body, register it in its own right. The FAQs say PCNs should choose the sector "Other (including charities and NHS Business Partners)".
• Check that everyone working for the network, including staff shared across practices, has completed data security training, as NHS England expects for all staff with access to personal data.

Sources

• DSPT: Frequently asked questions
• NHS England: Information governance and data protection

What's changed

• CQC published how it is prioritising assessments in each sector on 26 May 2026. For primary care, priorities include services with urgent risk, high-risk services not yet assessed, services registered for a year or more without an assessment, follow-up after enforcement, and ratings older than 7 years.
• Its Returning to Good and Outstanding programme, which started in March, runs focused assessments of lower-risk practices rated good or outstanding whose last report was published between 2017 and 2022.
• Inspectors may switch to a full assessment if concerns come up.

Who it affects

GP practices in England, especially those with a rating more than 7 years old or a last report published from 2017 to 2022.

What to do

• Check the date of your last published CQC report and work out whether you fall into one of the priority groups.
• If you might be in the focused programme, review your evidence for the non-clinical areas CQC says it will look at.
• Keep following CQC's current published guidance. CQC says this still applies until its new approach is introduced.
• Do not expect a date in advance. CQC says it cannot tell individual services when they will be assessed.

Sources

• CQC: Priorities for delivering more assessments and tackling aged ratings

What's changed

• Access: requests the practice identifies as clinically urgent must be dealt with the same day. Other requests need a response confirming next steps by the end of the next working day, and patients must not be asked to call back on another day.
• Online consultation: tools must stay open throughout core hours (8am to 6:30pm on weekdays) with no cap on requests. Practices must also share data on online and video consultations.
• Other duties: use the NHS England online registration service for every registration, reconfirm the nominated pharmacy on new prescriptions, keep a monitored pharmacy email listed in the Directory of Services, and use Advice and Guidance before or instead of planned referrals where clinically appropriate.
• Money: the global sum is £130.07 per weighted patient, and a new practice level GP reimbursement scheme pays up to £4.57 per adjusted patient.

Who it affects

All GMS, PMS and APMS practices in England, and PCNs taking part in the Network Contract DES.

What to do

• Check your online consultation tool stays open all of core hours, and publish opening times for walk-in, phone and online access on your website, leaflet and premises.
• Write a simple same-day process for clinically urgent requests and code those appointments using the national guidance.
• Move any paper registrations onto the online registration service, while keeping non-digital routes open.
• Set up, or confirm, a dedicated pharmacy email address and check it is in the Directory of Services.

Sources

• NHS England: Supplementary information to support changes to the 2026/27 GP contract
• NHS England: Changes to the GP contract in 2026/27
• NHS England: Implementing the 2026/27 GP contract changes to PMS and APMS contracts

What's changed

• Nothing new. The NCSC sets out four layers: make it hard for attackers to reach users, help users spot and report phishing, limit the damage from emails that get through, and respond quickly.
• It warns that no training catches every phishing email, so staff awareness on its own is not enough.

Who it affects

All UK practices and PCNs. Many technical controls sit with your GP IT provider, but the habits and processes are yours.

What to do

• Agree a rule that any email asking to change bank details, pay an invoice or share login details is checked through a second channel, such as a phone call to a known number.
• Make reporting a suspicious email quick and simple, and tell staff what happened to their report.
• Say clearly that staff will not be blamed for reporting a click. The NCSC notes that people who fear punishment do not report mistakes.
• Ask your GP IT provider to confirm that multi-factor authentication is on for the accounts that support it, that admin accounts are not used for email or browsing, and that you have an incident plan you have practised.

Sources

• NCSC: Phishing attacks: defending your organisation
• NCSC: Small Business Guide

What's changed

• NHS England published version 3 of the ICB practice agreement, with its sign-off document and appendices, on 8 May 2026. It sets the terms on which ICBs provide GP IT services and practices use them.
• Every ICB and every practice is expected to sign it, and to review the appendices, by 30 Sept 2026. Until both sides sign, the old CCG practice agreement (version 2) still applies.
• The operating model also lists retiring all Windows 10 operating systems in favour of Windows 11.

Who it affects

All GP practices in England that receive NHS-funded IT services from their ICB.

What to do

• Check whether the practice has signed version 3. It can be signed digitally.
• Review the appendices, including the list of services, supported premises and sub-contractors, and correct anything out of date.
• Check every sub-contractor that uses your systems, such as locums or a federation, is listed and meets the required standards.
• Ask your GP IT team whether any practice devices still run Windows 10.

Deadline

The operating model set 30 Sept 2026 as the date for signing the new agreement. If you have not signed, contact your ICB now.

Sources

• NHS England: ICB practice agreement: terms governing the provision and receipt of digital services in general practice
• NHS England: Securing excellence in primary care (GP) digital services: the primary care (GP) digital services operating model

What's changed

• The GMS global sum goes from £123.34 to £130.07 per weighted patient from 1 April 2026, a 5.5% uplift covering pay and expenses.
• PMS and APMS practices get the same net uplift of £6.73 per weighted patient, usually based on list size at 1 January 2026. ICBs are asked to update local contracts as soon as possible.
• The BMA says the DDRB award for GPs is 3.5% and flows through this global sum figure, so the uplift will not need to be paid in arrears this year.

Who it affects

GMS, PMS and APMS practices in England, and PCNs, whose 2026/27 Network Contract DES payments were set out in the same guidance.

What to do

• Check your April payments reflect £130.07 per weighted patient, or the £6.73 uplift if you hold a PMS or APMS contract.
• If you hold a PMS or APMS contract with an agreed out of hours deduction, check it now matches the GMS figure of 4.70%, or £6.11 per weighted patient.
• Ask your ICB when your local contract variation will be issued if it has not arrived.
• PCNs: check core PCN funding is paid at £3.059 per patient a year and Enhanced Access at £8.903 per adjusted patient.

Sources

• NHS England: Implementing the 2026/27 GP contract changes to PMS and APMS contracts
• BMA: DDRB uplift 2026/27 FAQs

What's changed

• NHS England published a variation to the 2026/27 Network Contract DES on 30 April 2026, taking effect from 1 May 2026.
• ICBs can now ask NHS England for a local variation arrangement. These can only change sections 7, 8 and 10.1 to 10.5 of the specification, and only for the current financial year.
• GPs and Band 5 and 6 practice nurses whose posts were funded through the 2025/26 Capacity and Access Payment or the PCN Test Sites Programme can move into ARRS, subject to funding. The usual 12 month rule on recent practice employment does not block these transfers.

Who it affects

PCN clinical directors, PCN managers and practices in England taking part in the Network Contract DES, especially those that used Capacity and Access Payment funding for GP or nurse posts.

What to do

• List any GP or practice nurse posts that were funded by the Capacity and Access Payment or a test site, and check with your ICB whether ARRS funding is available to move them across.
• Ask your ICB whether it plans to request a local variation arrangement, and what that would mean for your PCN.
• If your PCN membership changed, or a practice wanted to join or leave, confirm the participation form reached your commissioner within the 30 calendar day window that followed publication.
• Check every member practice has accepted the contract variation in CQRS.

Deadline

Changes to PCN membership linked to the variation had to be notified within 30 calendar days of publication on 30 April 2026.

Sources

• NHS England: Primary Care Networks: Network Contract Directed Enhanced Service from May 2026
• NHS England: Network Contract DES guidance for 2026/27, Part B: non-clinical

What's changed

• The 2026/27 Part B guidance, dated 30 April 2026, confirms each PCN must return a workforce plan to its commissioner by 31 October 2026, setting out any updated recruitment plans for 2026/27.
• The commissioner then agrees the plan with the PCN clinical director and shares agreed plans with NHS England regional teams by 30 November 2026.
• For 2026/27 each PCN's ARRS sum is £27.668 per head of its contractor weighted population as at 1 January 2026.

Who it affects

PCN clinical directors and managers in England who claim, or plan to claim, through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme.

What to do

• Work out your 2026/27 ARRS entitlement using the national ready reckoner and your January 2026 weighted population.
• Set out planned recruitment by role, including any GP or nurse posts moving across from Capacity and Access Payment or test site funding.
• Check that every ARRS-funded member of staff is recorded in the PCN module of the National Workforce Reporting Service, which must be updated monthly.
• Tell your commissioner about any leaver no later than the end of the month in which they leave, using the ARRS claims portal.

Deadline

Send your workforce plan to your commissioner by 31 October 2026.

Sources

• NHS England: Network Contract DES guidance for 2026/27, Part B: non-clinical

What's changed

• Nothing mid-year. Under the 2026/27 QOF guidance, a patient can be removed from an indicator denominator for not responding only after at least two invitations at two separate points in the QOF year (1 April to 31 March), at least seven calendar days apart.
• Cervical screening indicators CS005 and CS006 need three invitations instead.
• If invitations are coded correctly, the business rules find them. You do not need extra codes at year end.

Who it affects

Practices in England running QOF recalls, and PCNs supporting recall work across member practices.

What to do

• Code each invitation at the time you send it. The guidance accepts codes for the method used and for use of the patient's preferred method.
• Send the first invitation by the patient's recorded preferred method where there is one. Start recording preferences at routine contacts.
• Personalise every invitation with the patient's name and what they are invited for. Letters and emails should say why the care matters.
• Stop relying on generic prompts. Messages on the right-hand side of prescriptions and waiting room notices do not count as invitations.

Remember that achievement overrides a PCA, so keep offering care opportunistically.

Sources

• NHS England: Quality and Outcomes Framework guidance for 2026/27
• NHS England: Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) guidance for 2026/27

What's changed

• For 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 there are three mandatory QI projects: chronic kidney disease (50 points), cardiovascular disease in people with high blood pressure (50 points) and continuity of care (70 points).
• You must complete all three to claim any QI points. The point value for access and QI achievement rises from £206.96 to £208.21.
• Monthly aspiration payments, at 70% of the 170 points, only go to practices that received a QI achievement payment in 2025/26.

Who it affects

GMS practices in Wales. The directions were made on 22 April 2026 and take effect from 1 April 2026. They also remove the old Doctors' Retainer Scheme section from the Welsh SFE.

What to do

• Read the project details in Annexes D, E and F of the directions and assign a lead for each project.
• Plan the evidence you will need for each project now, rather than at year end.
• Check whether your practice qualifies for aspiration payments and budget for them being clawed back if evidence is not accepted.
• Ask your health board for the verification dates once DHCW confirms them.

Deadline

Submit evidence for all three projects to your health board by 31 March 2027. Achievement payments are due at 30 June 2027.

Sources

• Welsh Government: Statement of Financial Entitlements (Amendment) (No. 5) Directions 2026
• Welsh Government: SFE (Amendment) (No. 5) Directions 2026 (PDF)

What's changed

• Nothing new. National Patient Safety Alerts are issued by NHS England and sent out through the Central Alerting System (CAS), which the MHRA runs.
• NHS England says declared compliance with alerts is a key safety indicator and a focus for CQC, and failing to act can lead to regulatory action.
• The MHRA also publishes medicines recalls, device safety information and a monthly safety roundup on GOV.UK.

Who it affects

Practice managers in England who are responsible for receiving alerts and making sure the right clinician acts on them.

What to do

• Check which email address CAS holds for your practice. To register or get help, the CAS help page asks you to contact its helpdesk with the alert email address, your practice name, ODS code and full address.
• It is worth using an address that is still read when a named person is on leave, and checking that alerts are not filtered as junk.
• Sign up to the GOV.UK email alerts for drug and device notices as a second route, so recalls do not depend on one inbox.
• Consider keeping a simple log for each alert: date received, who reviewed it, whether it applies, any patient search run and what was done. Read the full alert for its own actions and timescales.

Sources

• NHS England: Our National Patient Safety Alerts
• MHRA Central Alerting System: Help
• GOV.UK: Alerts, recalls and safety information: medicines and medical devices

What's changed

• From 6 April 2026, statutory sick pay (SSP) is paid from the first day of sickness absence, not the fourth. The lower earnings limit has gone, so all eligible employees qualify whatever they earn.
• SSP is the lower of £123.25 a week or 80% of average weekly earnings.
• Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave are now available from the first day of employment. A new Bereaved Partner's Paternity Leave right also started on 6 April 2026.

Who it affects

Every practice and PCN that employs staff. GOV.UK says the sick pay changes apply across the whole UK. Absences that began before 6 April 2026 follow the old rules.

What to do

• Update your sickness absence policy to remove any wording about waiting days or earnings limits.
• Check with your payroll provider that SSP is now calculated from day one and at the right rate.
• Update your family leave policy and staff handbook so paternity and unpaid parental leave are open to new starters.
• Tell managers and staff about the changes.

Sources

• GOV.UK: Millions of workers get new access to sick pay and parental leave
• Business.gov.uk: Statutory Sick Pay changes

What's changed

• Since the end of March 2026, every employment change notification from a GP performer is approved automatically in PCSE Online. Practices and ICBs no longer have to confirm them.
• Notifications submitted up to 27 March 2026 that were still waiting for practice or ICB approval were due to be cleared by mid-April 2026.
• PCSE says the aim is to cut admin and stop approval delays from holding up GP pension deductions at year end.

Who it affects

GP practices in England that take on, lose or change the role of a GP on the performers list, and the GPs themselves.

What to do

• Remind GPs joining, leaving or changing role at your practice that they must still submit an employment change notification in PCSE Online.
• Watch for PCSE prompts to submit a Pensions Joiner or Pensions Leaver form, which start or stop pension deductions.
• Submit those pension forms promptly so deductions match the GP's actual employment.
• Remove any local step in your joiner and leaver checklist that waits for practice approval in PCSE Online.

Sources

• PCSE: GP Practice Update, April 2026
• PCSE: GP and GP Practice news