Personal Medical Services (PMS) is a locally-agreed alternative to General Medical Service (GMS) for providers of general practice.
The defining feature of PMS agreements is their local nature. Unlike GMS contracts, they are negotiated between the Primary Care Organisation and the practice, and are not subject to direct national negotiations between the Department of Health and the General Practitioners Committee of the British Medical Association. PMS contracts were introduced in Blackburn with Darwen a number of years ago and it is necessary now to review those contracts to ensure that they meet the current regulatory requirements, that they continue to ensure high quality care and improved health outcomes for the practice populations, that they support the effective organization of resources and that they contribute towards achieving the strategic objectives of the Care Trust Plus as it seeks to support the delivery of the White Paper
The review of the current PMS contracts will commence shortly and practices will be contacted providing detail of the process to be followed. The review, which will be open and transparent, will be undertaken in full consultation with the practices and the Local Medical Committee and will include a set of mutually agreed indicators to be benchmarked by GPs. The review will follow legislation and accepted good practice guidance published by the Department of Health, NHS Primary Care Commissioning and the BMA.
