Locum costs – what will the PCT pay?

When a GP is ill and can’t work, what will the Primary Care Trust pay towards any locum costs that the practice may incur?

The answer to this should be pretty straightforward.  It’s all in the GMS Statement of Financial Entitlements , a 391 page document available at http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/documents/digitalasset/dh_112959.pdf which  says that the PCT will pay eligible practices up to £987.91 for the first 26 weeks of a GP’s absence and half that for the next 26 weeks.

Many practices assume that this is what they would receive and budget accordingly.