The quality of services to patients, financial accountability, and performance are constantly under scrutiny. We are one of the leading providers of accounting and advisory services to the NHS, medical practices, and primary care networks.
RSM is dedicated to providing enhanced healthcare legal services to the NHS to ensure that any potential challenges are overcome. Our team of legal experts have years of experience in medical accounting and we work with over 100 NHS clients in the UK.
As medical specialists, we keep abreast of all developments in the sector and ensure that you are kept up to date with any changes that could affect you. Our experienced medical team provides advice to a range of clients, from locums and sole practitioners to large practices and federations. No two clients are the same, so the services we provide are tailored to your specific needs.
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NHS
Providing enhanced customer service with increased quality and value for money is key to our success in the NHS. We will work with you to overcome any hurdles standing in your way so you can reach your strategic goals.
The public health sector is experiencing volatility in line with severe funding pressures from government. With increasing regulation, an ageing UK population, strong media interest, and the impact of new technologies within the sector we continue to assist our clients to meet their objectives.
Be confident in our knowledge and experience
Our dedicated NHS team works with over 100 NHS clients across the UK, making us one of the largest providers of risk advisory and business services to the NHS. This practical experience and sector knowledge enables us to create robust insightful solutions that effectively empower you to meet the current and future needs of an ever-changing NHS.
Primary care networks
Primary care networks (PCNs) were first introduced on 1 July 2019, and the question of whether to form a PCN company is as topical as ever.
By PCN company, we’re referring to the provider entity scenario described on page 11 of the BMA’s primary care network handbook.
One of the reasons that this is such a hot topic is the benefits that forming a PCN company can bring.
Benefits of forming a primary care network company
Should you form a PCN company? Well, the benefits of PCN companies are that they:
- allow for the creation of a VAT cost sharing group to overcome the issue of PCNs breaching their VAT threshold;
- provide a single entity for employing staff, on consistent employment terms, which can easily become muddled otherwise;
- resolve the PCN tax on surplus issue by accessing 19 per cent corporate tax rates, compared with the 40 to 45 per cent personal tax rates;
- allow for more formal governance and decision making by a delegated board, which can often become unwieldy in PCNs;
- limit any liability to the partners, however remote this eventuality may be, away from an unincorporated environment where personal assets are at risk;
- make accounting much simpler, since they create a separate entity; and
- can allow the entity to be party to alternative provider medical services (APMS) contracts so that it can then receive the PCN DES funding directly under a lead provider model.
We can help you form a PCN company
Deciding whether to form a PCN company can be tricky. We can help, first by explaining some of the potential drawbacks involved. To help you decide, we can also:
- attend virtual meetings to discuss the issue with either the whole of the PCN member practices or with the management group;
- create a tailored board paper for your PCN, assessing the option ready for a vote on this subject; and
- run a workshop, alongside specialist solicitors, to discuss the issue and answer any questions.
If you do decide to go ahead and form a separate corporate entity, then we would:
- form the company at Companies House;
- establish a VAT Cost Sharing Group (if required);
- deal with other statutory notifications, such as registering for PAYE and Corporation Tax;
- help you apply for the pensions determination to allow you staff to have access to the NHS Pension Scheme; and
- work with a specialist solicitor to ensure that the company’s governing document was correctly worded and that the new entity is correctly embedded into the PCN network agreement.
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