BMA urges immediate pause to NHS GP cloud telephony project amid soaring costs
NHSE aims to phase out traditional ISDN and PSTN analogue lines by the end of 2025
The British Medical Association's (BMA) General Practitioners Committee has called for an "immediate pause" to NHS England's cloud-based telephony project, citing concerns over escalating costs for GP practices.
While designed to streamline the process of booking GP appointments, the BMA asserts that the implementation of the new framework, mandated in the current GP contract, is significantly inflating costs for GP practices across England.
In March, NHS England (NHSE) unveiled changes to the new GP contract, requiring practices to adopt cloud-based telephony once their current telephone contracts expire.
The announcement outlined a national framework called the Better Purchasing Framework (BPF), designed to streamline the procurement process and ensure value for money.
Under the new guidelines, practices will exclusively procure telephony technology from the recommended suppliers listed in the BPF.
The move towards cloud-based platforms aims to phase out traditional ISDN and PSTN analogue lines by the end of 2025, aligning with the telecom industry's transition from analogue to digital landlines nationwide.
A £240 million funding allocation was earmarked for this transition, with the aim of replacing outdated analogue phone systems.
However, GP leaders have warned that the new cloud-based telephony systems could impose substantial financial burdens on already strained GP practices, with potential additional costs of up to £10,000 per year.
Dr David Wrigley, deputy chair of GPC England, penned a letter to NHS England's national director for primary care, Dr Amanda Doyle, urging an immediate pause to the project.
Wrigley highlighted the stark reality faced by many practices, where costs have surged, sometimes by as much as 470%.
The requirement for practices to procure exclusively from providers on the BPF has exacerbated the situation, leading to significant increases in costs without corresponding additional funding.
The BPF list contains the following telephony suppliers and solutions:
• Adaptive Communication Solutions Ltd
• Babblevoice
• Etc.Health at BT Group - Smart Practice
• Checkcomm - Check Cloud
• Daisy Patient line
• Health24
• ITS Digital - Surgery Connect
• Louiscomm CareConnectwith Horizon Contact
• MPS Cloud Voice for general practice
• NCS Gamma PatientSmart
• Care connect from Onecom ltd
• Opus Telecoms
• Redcentric Unity GP Telephony
• RHM Telecom - Horizon Contact
• RPM Business communications
• Smart IT - Smart Healthcare
• Focus Group - Think healthcare
• Wavenet
• X-on Health Surgery Connect
In his letter, Wrigley stressed that the financial strain comes at a time when GP finances are already under immense pressure.
He underscored the lack of support and guidance provided to practices during the transition, with many grappling with complex contracts and insufficient time for review.
"Our concerns have long been ignored, and instead we've been told in meetings that costs for practices when changing to these services would not increase. This could not be further from the truth for many GPs across the country," Wrigley said.
He highlighted the urgent need for dialogue and resolution to address the "serious situation" faced by GP surgeries across the country.
"We need an immediate pause on this new programme of work and then work to ensure this new system is in the best possible place, so we don't create additional problems for GP surgeries across the country."
While NHSE reported that over 80% of GP practices have now implemented digital telephony, Doyle has cautioned against viewing the new telephone system as a panacea.
She stressed the importance of integrating telephony with other digital tools to enhance patient experience comprehensively.