Do you know how many patients you currently have in your care homes?

In the first quarter of the financial year, it is a good time to check the number shown against your Practice Residential Nursing Home Index on your GP statement.

If you find there is a significant difference in your care home patients’ numbers between these please see below.

Just a few different could just be timing as the GP statement weightings are only updated at the start of each quarter.  However, an increase in the RI weighting should also increase the monthly global sum for your practice.

If you have a significant difference, you can check this using your clinical system searches.to check the coding for these patients that you know are in your care homes – set up a search if you haven’t got one already that checks the number of patients in each home and then a sub search based upon this population for the VO code to identify either those that are coded or those not coded and then add the code accordingly.

Please click here for further guidance.

If you require further assistance then please do not hesitate to contact us using the details below. 

Since the introduction of pension-related tax charges, trading as a limited company has become the preferred trading option for most consultants in private practice.

Sandison Easson Partner, Alec James, looks at the cycle of considering a company through to formation and cessation and highlights some key events where important decisions need to be made.

A limited company is primarily used as your trading structure for three main reasons:

• To limit your personal financial exposure. A company has limited liability which is contained within the entity thereby protecting the shareholders and directors.
• For financial flexibility. As the earnings from your private practice are moved from your personal tax return to a corporate tax return, you have flexibility to control your overall level of earnings, which can be beneficial to avoid or mitigate certain tax charges such as pension annual allowance charges.
• For potential tax efficiencies. Depending on the share structure, you may be able to use the company to reduce your overall tax liabilities. The savings and opportunities will, however, depend on your individual circumstances and you will therefore need to take professional advice.

For most consultants, the driving force behind the decision to use a limited company is usually a combination of all three.

Trading via a limited company requires a different thought process, particularly for those that have historically been self-employed and have enjoyed a great deal of flexibility over access to the funds generated.

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