PCSE begins reclaiming upfront GOS payments

Primary Care Support England (PCSE) has initiated the process of reclaiming advance payments made to practices in 2021 after difficulties with the new paper General Ophthalmic Services forms.

The upfront payments were made after there were challenges with the rollout of the new system, leading to a significant number of rejections.

As a result, NHS England agreed to pay average payments to practices in advance until implementation issues were resolved.

PCSE, on behalf of NHS England, is now reclaiming these payments as most practices have successfully submitted previously rejected paper claims.

Providing detail on the reclaim process in a statement, optical bodies confirmed that the payments would be made through three equal deductions from monthly GOS payments in January, February and March.

An initial email by PCSE to optical practices on 20 December regarding reclaims contained errors in data that were rectified in a follow up email on 21 December.

Optical bodies have highlighted that if, after careful consideration, a GOS contractor feels the sum being reclaimed is incorrect, they should contact PCSE by email.

ABDO, AOP and FODO are working with NHS England to understand the cause of high ongoing rejection rates for paper GOS claims.

“If you are experiencing a high paper rejection rate, please contact your membership body to share your experience,” the optical bodies emphasised.

AOP members can email [email protected].