Documents

Liverpool Local Medical Committee documents can be downloaded by clicking on the links below. To view these files you will need Adobe Reader software which is free to download from the Adobe website.

Liverpool LMC Election 2020-2024

• The Role of the GP on the LMC
• Letter from the Returning Officer, Mr Matt Harvey
• Letter from the Secretary, Dr R Barnett
• Nomination form

For more information please see the News & Events page.

General Practice

In 2019, as part of a 5 year deal with the Government, practices were expected to organise themselves into Primary Care Networks.  Although there have been changes to the practice membership of PCNs, and even changes to the configuration of PCNs, all practices in Liverpool are members of a PCN.  Although GP practice core hours are 08:00 – 18:30, Monday to Friday, through an imposed variation to the contract in April 2022, Government introduced Network Standard Hours, with the requirement that PCNs ensure that there is availability of GMS services up until 20:00 on weekdays and between 09:00 – 17:00 on Saturdays.   Many colleagues have seen this imposed change as a backdoor way of altering core practice hours.

Despite many assurances that General Practice is not under threat, and there being Government support for the Partnership model of General Practice, the creation of PCNs has been seen as a threat to individual practices.  This threat is compounded by the fact that most new resources coming to practices is via PCNs rather than direct to individual practices through their core contract.  Moreover, a recently published think tank report by the Policy Exchange, suggested that the partnership model is no longer fit for purpose.  The demise of CCGs and introduction of the Integrated Care System with its notation of a more integrated care system, with possible easier vertical integration of Primary Care services within Secondary Care, does not bode well.  The overall situation is not helped by the fact that there is a current shortage of GPs, with more GPs opting to be salaried rather than partners, therefore placing more strain on remaining partners.

It is difficult to know where General Practice is heading.  GPs in England have recently indicated that they want to see a new contract negotiated.  Government has stated that the current deal must run until 2024.

There is a publicity campaign running, Rebuild General Practice, aimed at highlighting the plight of General Practice, stating that the current service is putting patient safety at increasing risk.  The campaign has set out a 3-point plan for a General Practice rebuild:

• Recruitment: The UK Government delivering on its commitment of an additional 6,000 GPs in England by 2024.
• Retention: Tackling the factors driving GPs out of the profession such as burn out.
• Safety: A plan to reduce GP workload and in turn improve patient safety.

The plan will deliver the General Practice service that patients and staff deserve. Rebuilding General Practice will:

• Give GPs across the UK the time back to deliver the quality of care they want to be able to give patients, while ensuring that patients are cared for by the right General Practice team member.
• Resolve the difficulties many patients are facing in getting timely GP appointments.
• Benefit the NHS as a whole, by alleviating pressure on hospitals and help to tackle the backlog which existed long before the pandemic.

https://policyexchange.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/At-Your-Service.pdf

https://rebuildgp.co.uk/