New #RCGP Sessional GP Survey

The Department of Health has recognised the vital role of Sessional GPs in general practice, and is funding a large RCGP project to get more locum and salaried GPs into GP-led clinical commissioning and wants YOUR views on how more of us can get involved.

The advantages of us getting a lot more of us involved are so blindingly obvious that we’re not going to mention them here, and would prefer YOU to tell the RCGP and DH exactly what your feelings are through these 2 short surveys.

• As a Sessional GP, you can give your views here.
• And if you’re a SGP and already involved in a CCG, we’d love you to complete this quick survey too.

And if you have any other comments to make, feel free to leave them on this blog!

Isolation remains key issue for Sessional GPs

Paula Wright, Chairman of North-east Employed and Locum GPs, takes us through the findings of the recent report into Sessional GPs from the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund.

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.

RCGP to lead freelance locum GP working group

Earlier this month the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund (RMBF) hosted a national conference attended by many professional organisations and representatives of the Chief Medical Officer from all four UK countries and, of course, yours truly.

Salaried and Locum GPs needed to champion GP Commissioning

The RCGP has set up a new Centre for Commissioning, and is looking for a range of GPs from First5, Salaried, Chambers, Locums and Partners to apply to become Clinical Commissioning Champions. These Clinical Commissioning Champions (CCCs) will use their first-hand knowledge of working in the frontline of primary care to inform the production of educational resources and support tools. These champions will then be responsible for delivering training and education to GPs and those involved in commissioning, so a great opportunity for Sessional GPs, especially those working across a range of practices, to bring their knowledge and experience to the forefront of commissioning.

These posts will initially be for up to 10 days a year and GPs will be reimbursed for £393 per day. To find out more and  to apply to become a Clinical Commissioning Champion visit the RCGP website here.