England

This means that the tax credits option for patient eligibility for GOS claims will be removed from 6 April 2025.

What this means for eGOS/PMS users

GOS 1 and 6 claims, with a sight test date up to and including 5 April 2025, and with tax credits as the patient eligibility can be submitted within their 3 month validity period for GOS claim submissions. This eligibility option will be automatically removed from all GOS claim forms with a sight test date of 6 April onwards.

For GOS 3 and 4 claims where patients are claiming tax credit eligibility, glasses need to be ordered up to and including 5 April. This eligibility option will be automatically removed from 6 April 2025, which means any orders placed from 6 April will not have tax credits as an eligibility option.

Important note: From 6 April 2025, eGOS and PMS users who select tax credits as a patient eligibility option for their GOS claims will find the claim is rejected.

What this means for you
The tax credit line in the new GOS data type schema will become optional from 6 April 2025.

This means that the updated schema will have to either:

• be submitted with ‘N‘ included under tax credits option

or

• the data line for tax credits should be fully removed

If ‘Y‘ is submitted after the removal of tax credits, the GOS claim will be automatically rejected.

The existing schema will still be accepted; however, the tax credit field will remain mandatory.

Should you decide not to update your system with the new GOS data type schema, it will mean that after the removal of tax credits, ‘N‘ must be submitted for the tax credit eligibility option for a claim to be accepted. If ‘Y‘ is submitted in this field, the claim will be automatically rejected.

Tax credit rejection code

If ‘Y‘ is submitted after the removal of tax credits or nothing is entered for the new GOS type data schema, the GOS claim will be rejected, and a rejection message and the rejection code will be returned, as shown below.

Updated schema

The schema listed below has been updated to make the tax credit field optional. You’ll also find guidance on the difference between old and new schema below:

• OP-GOS-Data-Types.xsd
• Schema guidance

Testing

If you would like to update your systems and test the changes made to the GOS data type schema in line with the regulatory changes to remove tax credits from 6 April 2025, you are invited to test this throughout March 2025.

To allow you to test these changes, the PCSE Online eGOS User Acceptance Testing (UAT) environment has been configured to remove tax credits from 14 March 2025. This means that anything submitted through the UAT environment after this date will have the changes applied to remove tax credits as an option for eligibility.

The following link will open in your web browser, and you will see the UAT environment log in screen: http://secure.uat.pcse.england.nhs.uk/

In the UAT environment only, multiple users can log in with the same test user name and password at the same time for testing purposes.

Your test organisation code is to help you identify the test claims you create.

Here are the key things you should be aware of when working in the UAT environment:

• the test account may be used by other users, so please don’t worry if you see test GOS claims that you have not created
• please use dummy data only i.e. cartoon characters, you should not use any of your own patient data
• the test account has been set up with all of the roles necessary to create and submit a claim (e.g., GOSClaimManager, GOSPerformer, ContractorSignatory), you will not need to change roles

For more information on the correct use of user roles in the live PCSE Online system, take a look at page 14 of our User Management guide.

If you do not already have access to the PCSE Online UAT environment, please email your organisation code and user name (email address) to pcse.pmsegos@nhs.net with “PCSE Online – PMS provider testing” as the subject header.

Further support

As always, if you have any questions or require further support, please email pcse.pmsegos@nhs.net, with the subject “GOS Data Type Schema change“.

Next steps

We’ll write to you again in early April with a reminder, and any further relevant information.

This means that a minimum interval check is now performed for all PVNs. The check is designed in line with NHS England’s policy requirements to assist contactors to adhere to the minimum frequency interval for sight tests.

The check looks across the entire PCSE patient database to verify the date of the patient’s last scheduled domiciliary visit, including the contractor’s own records as well as those of other GOS contractors.

What this means for domiciliary providers using eGOS

If a contractor is submitting a PVN for a patient whose last domiciliary visit was less than the standard sight test interval for the patient’s circumstances, you must provide the early retest code that is most likely to be correct, based on the information provided by the patient when they requested a visit, when the PVN is submitted.

Please note, that it is the early retest code that the optometrist enters in the GOS6 claim that will be validated if a PPV audit of domiciliary claims takes place. More information on this issue can be found in the FAQ below.

If an early retest code is not provided, the eGOS notification will be returned with a rejection message.

If a rejected PVN contains multiple patients and you are unable to identify from your records which patient the rejection message applies to, we can investigate this for you.

Contacting PCSE

Please email the team at pcse.domnotifications@nhs.net, with the subject “PVN rejection – [ODS code] – [PVN Reference] – [Visit date] – [no. patients on PVN]”, for example:

Subject: PVN rejection – TP000 – 12345678 – 05/09/2024 – 20

You should also include the following in the body of your email:

• your ODS code
• PVN reference
• date of rejection
• planned visit date

We will let you know as soon as possible which patient(s) the rejection message applies to, so that you can resubmit the PVN after taking the appropriation action, such as:

• removing the patient from the notification if they are not due a sight test
• including an early re-test code for the patient, if appropriate
• cancel a previously approved PVN if the visit did not take place
• delete patient from previously approved PVN if the visit to the establishment took place but the patient in question wasn’t seen

Important information
PCSE can only respond to emails received from a registered contact of an organisation. You will experience a delay in receiving a response if you are not a registered contact, as we have to get in touch with the organisation’s main contact to verify you.

It is possible for the optometrist to submit a different early retest reason on the GOS6 claim to what was provided in the PVN, if they deem this to be necessary after the sight test has been carried out.

Frequently asked questions
Which early retest code do I enter in the PVN if I am unsure whether a patient who has requested an early sight test has a changing prescription or a condition that requires referral?

You should use your judgement on what would be the most appropriate early retest to enter code, based on the information provided by the patient when they requested a visit. The optometrist will be able to enter a different early retest code in the GOS6 claim if, following the sight test, it becomes apparent that the reason for an early sight test is different.

For example, if a patient requests an early retest as they think their vision is changing, the contractor would enter code 3.2 on the PVN. If the optometrist finds that the patient requires referral to a medical practitioner, they would enter code 3.1 on the GOS6 claim.

What do I do if a PVN was approved, but the visit did not take place?

If a PVN is approved and a visit does not take place, you should cancel the PVN on PCSE Online to avoid future PVNs being rejected.

What happens if I do not receive confirmation of the patient causing a PVN rejection in enough time to amend and resubmit the PVN within the required notification timescale?

If you have not received confirmation of which patient has caused a PVN rejection in enough time to amend and resubmit the PVN within the required notification timescale, please enter a future visit date. This will allow the PVN to be accepted

You should then email pcse.domnotifications@nhs.net to request that we correct the date. The subject should be “PVN date correction required – [ODS code] – [PVN Reference] – [Visit date], for example:

Subject: PVN date correction required- TP000 – 12345678 – 05/09/2024

You should also include the following in the body of your email:

• your ODS code
• original PVN reference
• date of original rejection
• new PVN reference
• planned visit date on new PVN
• correct planned visit date