NHS Shared Planning Guidance
NHS Operational Planning and Contracting Guidance 2019/20
The Government announced a five-year funding settlement for the NHS in June 2018. The new settlement provides for an additional £20.5 billion a year in real terms by 2023/24. In response, the NHS has published a Long Term Plan on 7 January and 2019/20 will be the foundation year which will see significant changes to the architecture of the NHS, laying the groundwork for implementation of the Long Term Plan.
This full Planning Guidance replaces the Preparatory Guidance published in December 2018 and covers system planning, the financial settlement, full operational plan requirements, and the process and timescales around the submission of plans. It is being published along with five-year indicative CCG allocations.
View the NHS Operational Planning and Contracting Guidance 2019/20 – this is an updated version of the document published on 21 December 2018 which now incorporates minor changes. These changes are detailed in Corrections to NHS Operational Planning and Contracting Guidance 2019/20.
NHS Operational Planning and Contracting 2019/20: annexes
- Technical and supporting guidance: NHS Operational Planning and Contracting Guidance 2019/20 – this technical planning guidance has been produced to support the submission of templates to ensure plans are completed on a consistent basis and to a high standard.
- Annex A: 2019/20 planning prices – an explanatory note – contains draft National Tariff Payment System prices to support planning for 2019/20.
- Annex B: Guidance for operational and activity plans: assurance statements – this document sets out assurance statement deliverables for 2019/20, for which regions are asked to provide assurance that delivery plans are being put in place.
- Annex C: NHS Improvement guidance to trusts for operational plans – the technical guidance for NHS planning for trusts for 2019/20 operational plans.
- Annex D: NHS England Guidance for Finance Business Rules – contains guidance and advice on some of the issues that commissioners should consider when setting their 2019/20 operational finance plan.
- Annex E: Integration of specialised services with local health and care systems – provides detail on how specialised services will be planned in collaboration with local systems to ensure more joined-up care for patients.
- Annex F: Joint Technical Definitions for Performance and Activity 2019/20 – contains the technical definitions for measures included in the operational plans collected from providers and commissioners. This is version 2 of the document, which incorporates a new indicator in the provider template, as well as some other slight amendments to the original version. The document contains an errata which describes these changes.
- Annex H: CQUIN -These documents provide the guidance for the Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) scheme for 2019/20.
- Annex J1: Joint Contract Dispute Resolution Process for new contracts for 2019/20
- Annex J2: Updating non-expiring contracts for 2019/20 – Guidance on the process for agreeing Variations and resolving disputes
NHS Standard Contract – The NHS Standard Contract is mandated by NHS England for use by commissioners for all contracts for healthcare services other than primary care. The Contract (in full-length and shorter-form versions) has now been updated for 2019/20.
Section 3 of the Operational Planning Guidance included work on the Evidence Based Interventions Programme which CCGs are required to implement. Further information is available in the Evidence-Based Interventions: Response to the public consultation and next steps document.
Previous shared planning guidance
Refreshing NHS Plans for 2018/19
- Refreshing NHS Plans for 2018/19 – this is an updated version of the document published on 2 February 2018 which now incorporates two minor changes. These changes are detailed in Corrections to Refreshing NHS Plans for 2018/19
Technical Guidance for Refreshing NHS Plans for 2018/19
- Technical Guidance for Refreshing NHS Plans 2018/19
- Annex A: information on CQUIN
- Annex B: information on Quality Premium
- Annex C: Joint Contract Dispute Resolution
- Annex D: NHS England Guidance for Finance Business Rules
- Annex E: NHS England CCG Guidance for Operational and Activity Plans: UNIFY submissions
- Annex F: NHS Improvement Guidance for Operational and Activity Plans
- Annex G: NHS national tariff
- Annex H: NHS Standard Contract
- Annex I: Specialised commissioning intentions
- Annex J: 2017-19 Prescribed Services CQUIN Schemes
- For further guidance on Specialised Commissioning view the specialised services section.
- Annex K: Better Care Fund Planning Requirements
- Annex L: Better Care Fund Operational Guidance – details to follow
- Annex M: Joint Technical Guidance for Performance and Activity
Operational Planning and Contracting Guidance for 2017-2019
NHS Shared Planning Guidance 2016/17-2020/21
NHS Shared Planning Guidance 2015/16
NHS Shared Planning Guidance 2014/15-2018/19
Lessons learned from contract dispute resolution
- NHS England and NHS Improvement have produced a document containing 10 helpful hints for commissioners and providers to avoid conflict.