GP Education

Coaching and mentoring

East of England have a range of mentoring schemes established and more in the planning phase, the mentoring process is about supporting an individual in determining how best to achieve their goal, not telling them how to perform. Health Education England have a range of materials accessible to a mentee or a mentor.

GP Retention Scheme

The GP Retention Scheme is a package of financial and educational support to help doctors, who might otherwise leave the profession, remain in clinical general practice.

The GP Retention Scheme replaces the Retained Doctors Scheme 2016. The scheme continues to be managed jointly by the local offices of Health Education England (HEE) (through the designated HEE RGP Scheme Lead) and NHS England. Please click here to read more about the scheme.

GP Resilience Programme

The GP Resilience Programme was announced as part of the NHS England’s Five Year Forward View, it suggests a menu of supportive packages to help practices explore new models of care.

This could include:

Diagnostic services to quickly identify areas for improvement support
Specialist advice and guidance e.g. human resources, IT
Coaching/Supervision/Mentorship
Practice Management Capacity Support
Rapid Intervention and management support for Practices at risk of closure
Co-ordinated support to help practices struggling with workforce issues
Change management and improvement support to individual practices or group of practices

Local Medical Committee

Beds and Herts LMC Ltd

Supports GPs and practices by advising on and promoting the development of all aspects of general practice. As the representative body for all GPs in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, the LMC assists practices in several ways including:

Supporting individual practices going through periods of difficulty (such as partnership disagreements, contractual problems or performance issues).
Implementing the General Practice Resilience Programme (GPRP) and delivering projects to help ensure practices remain sustainable in the future.
Providing practices with information about local and national health policies, contracts, and legal and ethical matters pertaining to the running of the complex business of general practice.
Negotiating on behalf of practices with other organisations on issues that affect general practice.
Delivering training and educational events.
Providing a recruitment advertising tool for practices with vacancies and GPs looking for work as well as a Locum and Nurse Bank.
Offering a wide range of pastoral care support services including a web-based self-help site and one to one counselling.
Promoting new and exciting models of care, including Primary Care Home, to inspire and encourage practices to develop.

For more information, please visit www.bedshertslmcs.org.uk or call the LMC on 01438 880010.

Berkshire, Buckingham and Oxfordshire LMC

Broad Functions of Local Medical Committees

To seek and represent the spectrum of GP views
To acquire wide ranging expertise to support GPs
To advise GPs and practices on anything relevant and within LMC competence
To help GPs in difficulty through ill-health, poor performance and relationships with colleagues
To disseminate usable guidance on all issues of relating to GP activity
To advise organisations both inside and outside the NHS on all GP matters
To troubleshoot areas that affect GPs ability to perform their job enjoyably and well
To facilitate earning opportunities for GPs
To raise the profile of general practice and promote the worth of GPs
To seek to limit any damage to GP interests resulting from the decisions of others.
To manage selected bulk discount schemes
To defend the profession’s views when those of others conflict with what we believe is in our patients’ best interests
To represent local GP practice views nationally.

For more information, please visit www.bbolmc.co.uk or call the LMC on 01628 475727.