All practice merger and closure notifications should be made using the Practice Mergers and Closures notification form, which can be downloaded here.
Completed forms should be sent to your ICB in the first instance for sight and confirmation of any proposed/planned changes. Your ICB will also need to complete Section 3 of the form.
Once approved by a Primary Care Commissioner, the responsible party should email the completed Practice Merger and Closure notification form, along with a Pensions Estimation Form and a Banking Declaration form (where applicable) to PCSE at: pcse.practicechanges@nhs.net copying in your ICB contact.
PCSE require the forms at least six weeks prior to the planned merger or closure. For large changes involving many GP Practices it is advisable to contact PCSE sooner to allow us to guide you through the process and plan what needs to be done.
Requests for patient letters should be emailed to PCSE at: pcse.practicechanges@nhs.net and there may be a charge for this service.
GP Practices who have medical records to be collected must provide an inventory of the records to be collected.
If you have any queries, answers to frequently asked questions on completing the form can be found here. Practice merger/closure payment, pension and medical record topics can be found here and you can find out more about Pooled lists here.
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When GP practice’s merge, one site will become the main site. The other site(s) will operate as branches and will need new branch ODS codes. Branch practice ODS codes begin with the main site code, followed by 001, 002, 003 depending on the number of branches there are.
What is an ODS code and how do I get it?
ODS codes are used by NHS Digital to identify organisations across health and social care. They are issued by the Organisation Data Service which is part of NHS Digital. PCSE requires ODS codes in order to set your practice(s) up on PCSE Online.
To obtain your practice ODS code, please contact the ODS Team at NHS Digital on 0300 303 4034 or via email on Exeter.helpdesk@nhs.net.
Please request the pdf report file from the ODS TEAM which will highlight the address and your new code. Please note: these pdf reports are only issued when new ODS codes are created. You will not receive one for codes that already exist.
What happens next?
Once you have your branch ODS code, please email us at: pcse.datamanager@nhs.net and state that you would like to set up access to PCSE Online for a new branch.
Please include in your email:
Details of your main practice
Details of your branch practice
When PCSE has received this information, we will call the branch practice and ask a contact there to verify the information provided. The nominated main contact will then receive an email with details of how to access PCSE Online. If you are the main practice contact and wish to be the main contact for the branch practice also, when PCSE has processed this change, the branch will be added to your existing PCSE Online account and will appear in the drop down list underneath ‘Select Organisation and Address’
The banking declaration form should be sent to PCSE with the practice merger/closure form via the online enquiries form (selecting Practice mergers and closure notifications as the subject enquiry type) or by email to pcse.practicechanges@nhs.net .
The form will be passed onto the GP Payments team to action. The GP Payments team will check that all partners in the practice have signed the declaration, complete a P2P form and send this onto the NHS England Regional Local Team to approve. Once approved it will then be sent onto NHS Shared Business Services for the banking details to be updated.
If you have a query regarding banking changes then these must be submitted via the online form. Select GP Payments as the subject enquiry type.
The full mergers and closures process and all associated forms can be accessed here.
The new estimate of profit for the practice should be sent to PCSE with the practice merger closure form via the online enquiries form (selecting Practice mergers and closure notifications as the subject enquiry type) or by email to pcse.practicechanges@nhs.net .
Any subsequent changes following the merger should be sent directly to the GP Payments and Pensions team via the online enquiries form (Select GP Payments or GP Pensions as the subject enquiry type).
Once the new estimate of profit is received and all actions for the merger have completed, the GP Pensions team will update the estimates for the GP’s to ensure that the correct contributions are taken from the practice each month.
Where a practice is changing its address only (and not as part of a merger with another practice) they will need to inform PCSE once the change has been approved by the commissioning organisation.
Please go to the online enquiries form, and select ‘Performers List’ from the drop down menu. Please complete the details requested, and in the message box, please state that you wish to inform PCSE of a change to practice address that is not related to a practice merger. Please also attach/upload evidence from your commissioner that confirms the change of practice address
The practice will also need to complete a Bank Mandate and send it to the GP Payments team via the online enquiries form.
PCSE will then update our records to reflect the new practice address. Please note: personalised stationery can only be ordered through PCSE Online once NHS BSA notify Xerox of the new address. Please contact PCSE.PracticeChanges@nhs.net with any urgent requests for personalised stationery. The Practice Changes team will check that NHS BSA have been informed of your change of address.
If the practice address is changing due to merger, please click here.
