Funding of appraisal for salaried and freelance GPs
General Practitioners Committee guidance
September 2006
- Appraisal funding for salaried GPs
- Appraisal funding for freelance/locum GPs
- Estimated time needed for the appraisal process
- If you have any problems
Appraisal funding for salaried GPs
Salaried GPs should be allowed protected time to prepare for and undertake appraisal during their normal working hours. General Medical Services (GMS) and Personal Medical Services (PMS) practices in England receive an element of funding from the Primary Care Organisation (PCO) to cover the cost of this. In Wales a fee of £300 is paid to individual GPs, and in Northern Ireland practices receive £300 per GP. Despite repeated pressure, the Scottish Executive Health Department has unfortunately not identified any appraisal funding for its salaried GPs.
If the salaried GP is asked to prepare for and undertake appraisal in their own time then this is possible provided that the salaried GP agrees. If appraisal is undertaken outside of normal working hours then the salaried GP should be adequately compensated for this. We recommend that the level of payment is agreed between the two parties in advance and that this recognises the time needed to prepare for appraisal and the time for the appraisal interview itself.
Please note that a full-time salaried GP and a part-time salaried GP both require the same amount of time to prepare for and undertake appraisal.
Appraisal funding for freelance/locum GPs
Freelance GPs in England must receive a contribution towards their costs of participating in appraisal. This is specified in the English Department of Health (DoH) guidance .
Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) will need to agree the precise details of payments to freelance GPs in the case of their appraisee costs, and the DoH guidance notes that PCTs will wish to consult with their Local Medical Committees (LMCs) on this. If PCTs agreed a level of payment for freelance GP appraisal prior to October 2004 then this should as a minimum be honoured. We recommend that LMCs consult with their PCTs on the level of freelance GP appraisal funding as soon as possible.
Freelance GPs must be treated on an equitable and fair basis in line with their GMS contractor and other GP colleagues. If freelance GPs in England do not receive appropriate funding from their PCT they should alert the LMC immediately. If this cannot be resolved locally then the GPC office should be informed so that this can be taken up centrally with the Health Department and NHS Employers.
In Scotland despite continued pressure from SGPC, the Scottish Executive Health Department has so far refused to provide central funding for freelance GP appraisal.
In Northern Ireland the Health Boards are responsible for paying £300 to each freelance GP to cover the cost of lost income while preparing for and undertaking appraisal.
In Wales it was agreed that a fee of £300 would be paid to all GPs, including freelance GPs, who participated in appraisal. This fee is separate to the global sum and is administered and paid by the Department of Post Graduate Studies. Concerns have been raised as to the amount of the payment and whether it is appropriate for the time needed to undertake appraisal.
Ideally freelance GPs should not be out of pocket as a result of participating in appraisal and therefore their loss of income should be covered. If freelance GPs do not receive the full costs of the appraisal process from the PCO then they may wish to consider this when setting their fees for freelance GP work.
Estimated time needed for the appraisal process
To give you an indication of how much time the whole appraisal process will take, and based on our independent research on the likely preparation time for a first appraisal, we estimate the following minimum times for appraisal per GP:
Completing the pre-appraisal forms (and reflection time) – 3.25 hours
Identifying and collating the documentation required for the forms – 2 hours
Preparing an outline personal development plan – 1 hour
Total preparation time – 6.25 hours
Appraisal interview – 1.5 hours (as previously agreed by the English DoH)
[Possible peer review – 1 hour]
Appraisal review preparation – 1 hour
Appraisal review interview – 0/5 hours (as previously agreed by the English DoH)
Total – 9.25 hours [10.25 hours with possible peer review]
These estimates are higher than the English DoH’s. The Department previously estimated that appraisal would only take between 4.5 and 6.5 hours. We believe that our estimates are a much closer match to the true requirements.
If you have any problems:
If you have any problems in obtaining time off to prepare for and undergo appraisal, or are a locum GP in England, Wales or Northern Ireland and have not obtained adequate appraisal funding then please contact your LMC immediately. If the problem cannot be rectified locally then the LMC can refer the case to the GPC office for possible central action. For example, the GPC recently took a case of a PCT not providing funding to locum GPs to the Implementation Co-ordination Group (which consists of representatives from the GPC, Health Departments and NHS Employers). As a result, the problem has now been resolved.