---

Londonwide LMCs motions at England LMC Representative Conference

The first Conference of England LMCs took place on 10 November in London. The full list of motions, including which parts were carried can be downloaded here. A summary of the motions proposed by London LMCs follows.

Online consulting

Tower Hamlets LMC successfully persuaded conference to back a motion to say GPC England should make it clear to the Government and NHS England (NHSE) that GPs will not formally agree to begin online consulting until there is clear evidence that it is beneficial to the health of patients.

Delegates were concerned it would add to an already unmanageable GP workload and decrease access for more vulnerable patients who may struggle to use the internet when there is no evidence that it will save time.

Capita / Primary Care Support England

A motion from Waltham Forest, proposed by our Medical Director Dr Elliott Singer to make the return of primary support services away from Capita was overwhelmingly passed.  GPC negotiator Dr Krishna Kasaraneni told conference: “We met with NHS England. We told them they have until the end of December to resolve all issues with Capita. 

“The mood of the profession is clear. If all issues are not resolved, we’ll be looking at all options.”

Capped Expenditure Process

Conference also backed a call from Tower Hamlets that the Capped Expenditure Process (CEP) be abandoned. The motion stated that CEP is likely to significantly increase workload in general practice without any additional funding or any consideration given to the impact or sustainability of this transfer of work.

Electronic Referral System

Dr Simon Parton from Lewisham won support of conference for a motion calling for an end to the increased use of  the ‘advice and guidance’ option in the Electronic Referral System (ERS) control GP referrals and increase clinical risk in primary care. Such advice and guidance should be advisory and not mandatory, he said.

The NHS is due to make ERS the only way in which practices can submit referrals and London GPs have experienced hospitals using the advice and guidance option to pass back work which GPs do not have time to do and is at the limit, if not beyond, their clinical competence.

Practice management and leadership in RCGP GP trainee syllabus

A call for more content in the GP curriculum to cover aspects of practice management came from Camden so that GP trainees can make more informed decisions about whether they want to eventually become GP partners.

GP trainee Dr Gemma Eyres said many of her colleagues dismissed the prospect of the partner model based on very incomplete knowledge of what becoming one actually entailed.

Data sharing and ownership

LMCs Medical Director Dr Vicky Weeks proposed a motion from Haringey that as data protection becomes more complex in working at scale a standardised over-arching data protection sharing template needs to be agreed.

But part of the motion calling for NHS England to be recognised as the data controller for primary care was rejected by conference. This had been included with the intention of transferring risk to NHS England as they make increasing demands for patient records to be shared with more of the health system.

Artificial intelligence apps and systems

Dr Elliott Singer received conference’s backing for a motion calling for all artificial intelligence systems including smartphone apps to be of proven benefit for both patient and GPs before being adopted.

Specifically, any such app needs to be piloted and assessed against set national criteria, need to demonstrate a sustainable reduction in GP workload and fully integrate with practice clinical systems.

GP at Hand

Derbyshire’s motion calling for the GPC to 'seek urgent legal advice' on the 'potential judicial review' of GP at Hand’s service was carried. This relates to the GP at Hand services disclaimer advising patients with certain medical needs not to register with their service and their advertising encouraging out of area registrations from across London.

Dr Emma Rowley-Conway of Lambeth LMC spoke in support, Dr Michelle Drage and Dr Elliott Singer both added points of clarification on the nature of the GP at Hand service.

Last updated : 22 Nov 2017

---