Our priorities
- Guidance on service provision, reducing transmission, PPE, shielding patients and PCNs.
- Your entitlements with annual leave, managing home visits and if you're indemnified.
- How to manage your practice during coronavirus.
GP pensions and annual allowance
Following extensive lobbying on annual allowance and the pensions taper from the BMA there have been two important changes that affect the 2019/20 and subsequent tax years.
Read our guidance on GP pensions and using scheme pays
Recognition of GPs as specialists
In January 2017, the GMC (General Medical Council) backed our long-standing call for GPs to be added to the specialist register. Together with the RCGP (Royal College of GPs), we released a joint statement in February 2018 calling for the formal recognition of general practitioners as specialists in the UK. The BMA, RCGP and GMC issued a further statement in September 2019 calling for changes to the Medical Act to formally recognise GPs as expert medical generalists and specialists in general practice.
Read the 2019 joint statement
GP partnership review
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has published an independent review into GP partnerships. The review was chaired by Dr Nigel Watson, in collaboration with the DHSC, NHS England, GPC and the Royal College of GPs.
Crisis in general practice (UK)
In July 2018, GPC wrote to the then-secretary of state for health, Matt Hancock MP, regarding the current crisis facing general practice. The letter outlines issues surrounding workload levels, expansion of the general practice and community workforce, technology and prevention, and adequate investment in primary care. We urged Mr Hancock to work with the BMA GPC to find a swift resolution to the crisis in general practice.
Read our 2018 letter to Matt Hancock MP
Read our guidance on managing workload
Capita service failures
Primary Care Support England (PCSE) service failures
PCSE, also known as Capita, have been responsible for the delivery of NHS England's primary care support services since September 2015. During that time, serious concerns have been raised about the service, with both patient safety and GP finances being affected. Issues are still ongoing despite continued talks between the BMA and NHS England.
Read our guidance on PCSE service failures
GP workforce (UK)
Following the development and implementation of a range of national GP workforce initiatives over the last three to four years, we continue to update this resource with helpful guidance and practical support.
Read our GP workforce guidance
Specialist prescribing (UK)
GPC wrote to the GMC to highlight concerns raised by practices about specialist prescribing for patients, such as those with gender dysphoria. The letter outlines the need to ensure patients have access to the specialist treatment they need.
Read our letter to the GMC and the reply from the GMC
Read our guidance on gender dysphoria
Primary care education tariff
GPC chair Richard Vautrey wrote to the secretary of state for health and social care to call for an increase in the funding of undergraduate placements in primary care.
Read the letter
Focus on quality indicators for QOF
GPC has produced a briefing on quality indicators to provide background and context in preparation for the negotiations to the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) and the potential changes following the recent QOF review, led by NHS England. The GPC has highlighted, and NHS England agrees, that a significant proportion of QOF funding is core income for practices and is an essential resource used for the employment of practice staff.
Read the QOF briefing
Read the NHS report of the QOF review in England
NHS standard contract 2017 - 19
The NHS standard contract for secondary care trusts places requirements on hospitals to reduce inappropriate bureaucratic workload shift onto GP practices. GPC has drafted template letters for LMCs in the event that these changes are not being implemented.
GPC surveys
GPC is working to create a better environment to allow GPs to deliver high quality general practice to patients. By gathering your views and feedback, GPC is able to use these surveys during negotiations and in discussions with the government, civil service and other organisations.
Saving general practice
The Saving general practice report, published in November 2017, sets out the BMA’s proposed solutions to address significant challenges within general practice. It lays out the areas that need to be addressed, such as workforce strategy, underfunding and workload pressures.
COVID-19 has has highlighted that these issues still need to be addressed urgently.
Urgent prescription for general practice
Our Responsive, safe and sustainable: our urgent prescription for general practice report highlights the increasing pressures that practices are under. The report called for immediate action as part of a ‘rescue package’, and long term to provide a sustainable, viable and vibrant future for general practice.
The GP premises survey found that only half of practices considered their premises to be fit for present needs, falling to just over two in 10 practices when they were asked if their premises were fit for the future.
Our people
The GPC has 86 members, 43 of whom are directly elected regional representatives. The remainder are either elected at the annual representative meeting (ARM), appointed from subcommittees or groups, or are ex-officio members.
We also have representatives from the sessional GPs committee, the GP trainees committee, Medical Women’s Federation, the Medical Practitioners Union, and British International Doctors Association.
Chair: Dr Richard Vautrey
Nations chairs:
Alan Stout, chair of Northern Ireland GPC
Philip White, chair of GPC Wales
Andrew Buist, chair of GPC Scotland
Non-voting members: Ex officio
President, Sir Henry Burns
Chair of the representative body, Helena McKeown
Chair of council, Chaand Nagpaul
Treasurer, Trevor Pickersgill
Chair of GPC Scotland, Andrew Buist
Chair of GPC Wales, Philip White
Chair of GPC Northern Ireland, Alan Stout
Voting Members: Ex officio
Chair of the UK LMC conference, Mark Corcoran
Deputy chair of the UK LMC conference, Katie Bramall-Stainer
Elected by the annual representative meeting 2020 (from an English constituency)
Surendra Kumar
Zoe Greaves
Fay Wilson
Karthik Bhat
Shivani Jaiswal
Elected by the UK LMC conference
Rachel Ali
Samira Anane
Paul Cundy
Chandra Kanneganti
Krishna Kasaraneni
Denise McFarlane
Timothy Morton
Voting nominees of other bodies
GP trainees committee (two representatives)
Lynn Hryhorskyj
Euan Strachan-Orr
Sessional GPs committee (four representatives)
Ben Molyneux
Nicola Kemp
Krishan Aggarwal
Paula Wright
Medical Women’s Federation
Devina Maru
Medical Practitioners' Union (two representatives)
Jackie Applebee
Deborah Colvin
British International Doctors Association
Rakesh Sharma
Under-represented groups (voting members)
Prison doctors
Wayne Sturley
GP within first five years post CCT
Sarah Westerbeek
Non-voting nominees of other bodies:
Royal College of General Practitioners- Frances Cranfield, Gary Howsam
BMA patient liaison group (one representative) - Richard Grimes
Forty-three elected regionally
Norfolk/Suffolk/Great Yarmouth & Waveney - Ian Hume
Cambridgeshire/Bedfordshire - Diana Hunter
Hertfordshire - Violane Carpenter
N and S Essex - Brian Balmer
Barking and Havering/Redbridge and Waltham Forest/City & E London - Terry John
Enfield and Haringey/Camden and Islington/
Barnet/Kensington and Chelsea/Westminster - Farah Jameel
Hillingdon/Brent and Harrow/Ealing/Hammersmith and Hounslow - Michelle Drage
Lewisham, Southwark and Lambeth/Bexley and Greenwich/Bromley - Penelope Jarrett
Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth/Kingston and Richmond - Richard van Mellaerts
Cumbria and Lancashire - Preeti Shukla
Sefton/Liverpool/Wirral - Rob Barnett
Cheshire/Mid Mersey - Ivan Camphor
Salford and Trafford/Manchester/Stockport - please contact [email protected].
Wigan & Bolton/Bury & Rochdale/W Pennine - Alan Dow
Northumberland/Newcastle and N Tyneside/Gateshead and S Tyneside/Sunderland - Roger Ford
Durham/Cleveland - please contact [email protected].
Northern Ireland - Alan Stout
Ayrshire and Arran/Borders/Dumfries and Galloway/Lanarkshire - Chris Black
Grampian/Highland/Orkney/Shetland/Western
Isles - Iain Kennedy
Glasgow and Clyde - John Ip
Forth Valley/Fife /Lothian/Tayside - Andrew Cowie
Gloucester/Avon - Tom Yerburgh
Wiltshire/Dorset - Andrew Purbrick
Somerset/N and E Devon - Mark Sanford-Wood
S and W Devon/Cornwall/Isles of Scilly - Bruce Hughes
Buckinghamshire/Oxfordshire - Matt Mayer
Berkshire/N and E Hampshire - please contact [email protected].
Hampshire/Isle of Wight - Nigel Watson
Kent - Gaurav Gupta
E Sussex/W Sussex - Russell Brown
Surrey and Croydon - Julius Parker
E Yorks/N Lincs/Lincs - Kieran Sharrock
Barnsley/Doncaster/Rotherham/Sheffield - vacant
Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire - Peter Holden
Leicester and Rutland/Northamptonshire - Anu Rao
N Yorkshire/Bradford - Brian McGregor
Calderdale/Kirklees/Leeds/Wakefield - Richard Vautrey
Gwent/Bro Taf/Morgannwg - David Bailey
Dyfed Powys/N Wales - please contact [email protected].
Herefordshire/Worcestershire/Warwickshire/Coventry - Simon Parkinson
N Staffs and S Staffs/Shropshire - Chandra Kanneganti
Birmingham/Solihull - Robert Morley
Sandwell/Walsall/Wolverhampton/Dudley - Uzma Ahmad
GPC's policy groups focus on specific workstreams, and deliver work on behalf of GPC. You can find out more about our policy groups and their work below.
Clinical and prescribing
The clinical and prescribing policy group leads on matters relating to drugs and prescribing, which includes vaccinations and immunisations policy, and the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF).
Commissioning and provider development
The commissioning and working at scale policy group leads on all matters relating to the commissioning and provision of services including CCG commissioning and practice based commissioning, enhanced services, out of hour (OOH), new providers and the internal market.
Contracts and regulation
The contracts and regulation policy group leads on regulatory and contractual issues relating to GPs working within the NHS, as well as the interface with private practice, and matters relating to prison doctors.
Education, training and workforce
The Education, training and workforce policy group leads on all education issues and the recruitment and retention of the general practice workforce.
Information, management, technology and information governance
The information management, technology and information governance policy group leads on all matters relating to NHS GP information, management and technology and all other relevant initiatives such as primary and secondary care IT interface, training and change management.
Premises and practice finance
The premises and practice finance policy group leads on financial and resource issues relating to GP practices as businesses and GP-specific payments including: pensions, tax and accountancy, premises and geography related costs.
Representation
The representation policy group work to ensure there is adequate representation of all GPs on GPC and within the NHS.
Associated committees
- GPC England
- GPC Northern Ireland
- GPC Scotland
- GPC Wales
- GP trainees committee
- Sessional GPs committee
- Local medical committees
Our meetings
The UK GPC meets twice a year to discuss the latest issues facing general practice. These meetings are open to GPC members, however, the committee also welcomes observers from LMCs (local medical committees).
LMCs interested in sending an observer to a GPC meeting should contact the GPC office to arrange a suitable date. All travel and other expenses for LMC observers must be met by the relevant LMC. A maximum of three LMC observers may attend any one meeting.
Meeting dates:
- Thursday 23 September 2021
- Thursday 24 March 2022
All meetings take place from 10am to 5pm either virtually or at:
BMA House
Tavistock Square
London
WC1H 9JP
For more information about GPC meetings, email [email protected].
How to join GPC UK
There are many advantages to becoming involved in our committees. You can actively influence BMA policy-making and negotiations, represent your colleagues' voices and develop your leadership skills.
Each committee has a few routes to becoming an elected member. In the case of GPC UK, these are:
- Seats/term - every year, a third of the 43 UK regions elect a representative for a three-session term.
- Timeline - elections are usually held in February or March.
- Eligibility - all GPs are eligible to stand and vote if they live or work in the relevant regions.
- Seats/term - every year, seven delegates of the LMC conference are elected to GPC UK for a one-session term.
- Timeline - elections are held at the LMC conference in May.
- Eligibility - only LMC conference delegates can stand and vote in this election.
- Seats/term - every year, 10 members are elected to GPC UK from the ARM elections for a one-session term.
- Timeline - the nomination period opens a month before ARM, and voting closes a few days after ARM.
- Eligibility - all UK GPs BMA members can stand for election but only ARM delegates can vote.
The election section below is kept up to date with details about any running elections, so make sure you keep checking it throughout the year.
Elections
LMC UK conference election to GPC UK
Elections to GPC UK for LMC UK representatives are now open.
Eligibility
To stand or vote in this election, you must:
- be an LMC representative
- have a BMA online account.
Nominations and casting your vote
- Nominations - from 12pm on Tuesday 13 April 2021 to 12pm on Thursday 29 April 2021.
- Ballot - from 5pm on Tuesday 11 May 2021 to 11am on Monday 17 May 2021.
Read our guide on how to use our online system for elections.
Results
Results will be announced from Tuesday 18 May 2021 on the election portal.
If you have any questions about these elections, please email us.
Get in touch
If you are interested in finding out more about the work of GPC, email [email protected].
The BMA’s network of elected women (NEW) is a BMA-wide group which supports elected women members.