Having spent many years supporting our sessional GP group in a variety of roles as treasurer, website manager and chairperson, I was delighted to have the opportunity to be involved in a research project focusing on support structures for sessional GPs. Our sessional GP group was locally recognised as providing important professional support, including job and educational alerts, and members had quadrupled in numbers since we had commissioned its website. So when the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund (RMBF) commissioned us to carry out this research, the first time these groups have been studied formally, this was a subject close to my heart. The research was a mixed methods study involving a literature review, focus groups and telephone interviews with sessional GPs, and online surveys to deanery educators, sessional GP groups and locum chambers.
Ninety-one percent of sessional GP groups contacted (57/62) responded to our survey, which indicates how keen group leaders were to find out more about other groups. Average group membership was 49, with the largest group having 180 members. The average lifetime of the groups was 55 months, with some existing for as long as 20 years. Membership included a range of sessional GPs: locums, salaried, retainers, GPs on career breaks for example. Groups met in a variety of venues including GP practice, hospital, PCT, and members’ homes.
Seventy percent of groups were run entirely by volunteers, the remainder having some paid administrators or a mixture of these and volunteers. Of those which did receive funding the commonest source was membership fees, though a minority had received funding from either PCTs, the pharmaceutical industry, local deaneries or their LMCs. Sometimes they had local links to deanery tutors, PCTs, LMCs and RCGP local faculties. Groups were perceived to provide key opportunities for networking, and information on educational events and job vacancies. Most provided meetings and a number provided newsletters, websites and locum lists for practices. They were felt to be of particular value to GPs new to the area and newly qualified GPs.