NASGP News Archive

30/11/2001
GMC establishes Continuing Professional Development Advisory Board

And guess who has been invited to be a "core member" of this board? Yup, the NASGP. The remit of this CPD Board is to advise the GMC's Education Committee (established in the 1983 Medical Act to co-ordinate all stages of medical education) on co-ordinating the provision of CPD. This overseeing Education Committee envisages that the board will develop a CPD framework to pull all the guidance that already exists on CPD and provide one set of underpinning principles across the profession.

So, we hope that through this board the NASGP can make sure that non-principals really are included in this grand vision thing. To find out more, see our CPD section.

23/10/2001
NASGP plans Way Forward Meeting for Non-Principals

We've today written to all non-principal group leaders, non-principal tutors (and hopefully non-principal LMC representatives, assuming we can find a list of them!) to gauge enthusiasm for a national meeting of non-principal representatives to be held on either Friday 22nd or Saturday 23rd February. We're approaching our 5th Birthday, so having taken stock of our current position we want to find out from non-principals exactly what our agenda is and how to carry it forward.

If you think we've missed you out, fill out this form (PDF) and post it to us.

17/10/2001
NASGP meets with GPC to improve representation for non-principals

The NASGP met with senior members of the General Practitioner’s Committee (GPC) today to look at ways of improving representation for all GPs. Together with the Overseas Doctors Association and Medical Women’s Federation, we have been asked to identify how GPs – in our case non-principals – could be encouraged to work more closely with Local Medical Committees and the GPC itself. Various barriers were identified (we won’t go into the details!), and the NASGP has agreed to help in other ways too to try and motivate non-principals into participating more in medical politics. Dr John Chisholm, GPC chairman, agreed at the meeting to write the next editorial for the NASGP newsletter to show how and why this could be done

17/10/2001
Judith Harvey joins NASGP Council

Dr Judith Harvey from North London is the latest member to join the NASGP council.

Judith was a GP principal in Buckinghamshire for ten years, first under GMS, then PMS.  After travelling the world last year, returned to London to discover the pleasures of being a non-principal.

Judith said “Five years ago I would have been begging a hand-me-down BNF.  Now I have a right to my own copy.  NASGP must continue to make NPs' lives easier by negotiating for them the things principals take for granted.”

And Judith isn’t new to medical politics. As chair of an LMC, Judith introduced non-principal representation and is now an LMC member representing non-principals. And as a member of GPC Judith represented PMS GPs.

 "I believe political representation is crucial to NASGP's objectives.  Soon most GPs may be working outside the GMS contract.  NPs know how to organise continuing professional development, about informing and supporting non-GMS GPs, about superannuation problems.  I believe we should embrace the positive concept of 'independent GPs' and use our experience to show our profession the way.”

12/09/2001
Response from Scottish Office on Non-Principal Supplementary Lists

04/09/2001
GPC’s National Survey of GP Opinion

If you haven't received a questionnaire by the end of this week, contact the Electoral Reform Society to request a copy on 020 8889 9203.

20/08/2001
Income tax relief on NASGP membership

25/07/2001
Managing poor performance in general practice

• Tina Ambury, NASGP's Deputy Chairman, went along and gave us the incisive report.
  • Or read it in Microsoft Word
  • Or in PDF

25/07/2001
Your chance to comment on Revalidation...

The Revalidation Liaison Group had its last meeting back in May and, following the GMC’s decision to move forward with revalidation, it will now transmogrify into a ‘snagging’ forum, primarily on an email footing.  The purpose will be to address details about the development and implementation of revalidation - and we all know the Devil’s in the detail.  The first task is to comment on the latest draft of the revalidation FAQ brief and you might want to comment direct to the GMC yourself.  Access the draft via the GMC web site at www.gmc-uk.org/revalidation/quesfrm.html and let them know.

12/07/2001
NASGP provide a cautious welcome to Supplementary Lists for Scottish Non-Principals

The NASGP was asked last month to comment on this consultation document, and the deadline for comments is tomorrow.

• See our reply in full

  • or download it in Microsoft Word

  • or in Adobe Acrobat PDF format

  • or see Scottish NASGP rep Jo Wilton's response in Microsoft Word Format

02/07/2001
Pension forms for locums in Scotland

The Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) have now produced forms for locums in Scotland very much along the lines of the forms already produced for locums in England and Wales.

These forms can be downloaded form superannuation area of the NASGP website.

We haven't heard a peep from Northern Ireland.

26/06/01
Report from LMC conference

The conference of LMCs was held on the 21st & 22nd June, and passed the following motions directly relevant to non-principals:

That conference…

• welcomes the inclusion of GP non-principals in the NHS pension scheme and the new supplementary lists
• demands that all employer contributions to the NHS superannuation scheme for retainees and assistants should be paid by the health authority
• recognises the increasing role played by non-principals in the delivery of primary care and insists that non-principals receive equality of access of information from the NHS
• asks that non-principals should be included in all educational aspects of general practice with appropriate financial support.
• demands that all employer contributions to superannuation paid for retainees and assistants should be paid by the health authority
• demands that all general practitioners have one session per week built into their contracts for audit, education and re-accreditation
• [demands that] any GP suspended pending a hearing must not be financially out of pocket until and unless found culpable for his/her actions, with provision for payment of locum cover to principals and potential loss of earnings to self-employed non-principals during the period of suspension.

For a full conference report, visit the BMA website.

25/06/01
Non-Principals no nearer to fees clarification

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has further clarified the position of the recommendation of fees for non-principals. The NASGP had asked for the OFTs advice on whether it could publicise the results of a proposed survey of members’ pay from sessional work in an attempt to give non-principals and employers an idea of what to pay or charge for work. The OFT has informed us that “Anything that prevents, restricts or distorts the ability to … be [competitive] on price and quality grounds … is potentially anticompetitive… In the context of price, individuals should set or negotiate their fees with potential employers individually.”

See the full text of our letter to the OFT and their reply.

18/06/01
Scottish Executive consults on Supplementary Lists for NPs in Scotland

We already know that these are happening in England and Wales, and now the Scottish Executive want to know what we feel about a similar scheme in Scotland. They'd like your views on their discussion paper (the consultation has been sent to all Scottish practices or is available from their website) by the 13th July. Please either send your comments direct to them or let us know and we'll incorporate them into ours.

14/06/01
GMC reports back to NASGP about Revalidation Pilots

A short while ago the GMC asked us to provide 30 quinea-pigs for revalidation. And we found them 100! See our revalidation area to find out what happened.

08/06/01
UK non-principals sent ballot paper by GPC Non-Principals Subcommittee

Yes, it's time again to elect your favourite candidates for the GPC Non-Principals Subcommittee. Ballot forms arrived today, sent to all non-principals on the BMA's database.

07/06/01
GP non-principals to take part in BMA survey on non-principal pay

It's time again for the BMA to submit evidence to the Doctors and Dentists Pay Review Board (DDRB) and so the BMA will again be contacting co-ordinators of non-principal groups around the country next week to gauge pay rates. Last year's survey helped the BMA and DDRB to significantly raise the locum reimbursement for practices.

04/06/01
92% of non-principals would support GP principals if they resigned

Of the 66% of 36,000 UK GPs  who responded, 86% said that they "would be prepared to consider sending an undated letter of resignation" in April 2002. See the full press release here (and yes, 66% of 36,000 isn't 22,380 - you'll just have to argue that one with the BMA!). Below is your response to our web poll.

How did you vote in the BMA Ballot? [44 votes total]
I said Yes (26)	59%
I said No (2)	5%
I didn't get a ballot paper (16)	36%

Have you received your papers for the BMA Ballot? The BMA would dearly like to know if we'd support our principal - GMS or PMS - or not, and have specifically asked non-principals for their opinion (see our press release).

We know for a fact that some non-principals haven't received a voting paper, so if you haven't you can get one from the BMA whether you're a member or not.

You can contact the BMA by email jgoodway@bma.org.uk or call 0207 383 6375 as soon as possible if you have not yet received one. The closing date is (Bank Holiday Monday) 30th May 2001, so hurry.

And let us know if you've received a ballot paper, or even how you've voted, using the poll below.

12/05/01
Locum Booking Consultation Document now on-line

If you're a locum or a practice manager you've no doubt experienced difficulties when, on the day, your expectations were not necessarily the same. So in order to make life a little easier for both parties we've come up with a locum booking form. Take a look at it and let us know what you think!

08/05/01
Continuing Professional Development for GP Non-Principals - 3rd National Conference BMA House 28 September 2001

Are you involved with non-principals and their CPD? Do you have an interest in this area of work? Are you and your non-principals ready for supplementary lists, clinical governance, appraisal, PDPs, revalidation etc? The BMA is holding its Third National Conference on CPD for Non-Principals and is calling for papers, posters and workshops.

You can register on-line or call the BMA conference unit on +44 (0)20 7383 6605.

With the retirement of our old webmaster Ed Penman to the pastures of GP principaldom we've taken on the website ourselves. Now run from the NASGP office itself, we hope to be able to update the site within minutes of any exciting news.

And a new discussion forum too (once we've fixed it - by the weekend. Promise!). 

Its terribly difficult at times to get a grip on what's happening to non-principals in the four UK countries, so NASGP council is always anxious to hear what non-principals across the UK have to say. So we're delighted to announce that Jo Wilton from Borders and Moray Grigor from Inverness have both agreed to represent Scotland on NASGP council. So please, apart from the normal channels when contacting the NASGP about UK matters, if you have any peculiarly Scottish concerns don't forget to let Moray and Jo know too.

There seems to have been some back-tracking going on in relation to Superannuation which could adversely effect non-principals. See a copy of our letter (in MSWord or PDF) to the GMC today.

Details of the NHS pension scheme for GP locums have now been announced and can be found in the NASGP's superannuation area or, for more comprehensive details, the NHS Pensions Agency website at www.nhspa.gov.uk/nhsgplocums.cfm

The relevant forms can all be downloaded from their website. Alternatively, forms will be available from 1 April 2001 from Practice Managers, Health Authorities or call the NHS Pensions Agency Distribution Centre on 0541 555455 quoting the form names 'GP Locum A' and 'GP Locum B'.

All other queries call the NHS Pensions Agency GP Locum Helpline 01253 774678.

Our warmest thanks to the very hard work of the British Medical Association, in particular Peter Harvey, Joint Chairman of the GPC Non-Principals Sub-Committee, and Simon Fradd of the BMA?s Superannuation Committee, who have been working tirelessly on this for locums and who continue to monitor the scheme on our behalf.

The NASGP website will shortly be undergoing a major redesign with new features and articles and a review of all current content. Please bear with us until this work is complete.

NASGP News Archive

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