GPs to be paid for deciding not to send patients to hospital

GPs in England will be able to claim £20 for their surgeries each time they decide not to send a patient to hospital under a government scheme to help reduce the NHS waiting list.

- Denis Campbell

Family doctors will be able to claim the money if they instead refer patients for tests and treatment in an out-of-hospital setting, such as a health clinic, or to see a community-based specialist.

An estimated 2 million patients a year, many with common conditions such as ear wax, tinnitus and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), could get faster care because of the initiative, ministers say.

It could also help women with menopausal symptoms avoid joining the already 580,000-strong waiting list for care from overloaded NHS gynaecological services.

NHS England has allocated £80m to fund a major expansion of the existing "advice and guidance" scheme, so that it covers all of England from this month onwards.