GPs in Surrey will receive free Chambers membership, including free Instant Book fees, until at least the end of the year thanks to a new NASGP partnership.
GPs working at practices in the Frimley area will see their Instant Book fees waived until 31 December after NASGP and Frimley Health & Social ICS teamed up to support local GPs and practices.
To take part, NASGP members simply log in to LocumDeck and apply to Frimley Chambers via the LocumDeck homepage.
GPs who are not yet NASGP members can also access the offer by signing up to a three month free trial NASGP membership, then following the same steps.
The Frimley scheme is the fourth of four local partnership schemes that NASGP runs in Essex, Devon and the Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire areas.
NASGP’s regional schemes aim to improve local recruitment and retention of GPs as well as making it easier for practices to find and book local GPs.
GP locums report facing huge cancellations and rare work shortages during the Covid-19 pandemic, and many felt pressured to diversify into non-sessional work such as agency work, apps and the Covid Clinical Access Service.
In many areas during the shortage of work, GP locums are feeling increasingly pressured to work in ‘bank’ models usually used for hospital staff and nurses that create difficult working conditions and are poorly suited to general practice.
Dr Richard Fieldhouse says: “It’s a thrill to share in the collective passion and enthusiasm of the GPs we’ve been working with across the Frimley Locum Hub – not only in their support for each other, but also in supporting the practices where they work.
“We all see this partnership as a sustainable solution that organically fits in with the long-term aims to improve GP recruitment and retention locally.”
