Somerset LMC Weekly Update Friday 22nd November 2019
Date sent: Friday 22 November 2019
Sent to all Somerset GPs and Practice Managers This and previous updates are available here
- 'Election Doorstop Challenge' the latest blog from LMC Chairman Dr Nick Bray
- Notes from the Somerset GP Board Meeting 20.11.19
- Practice Manager Development Coaching and Mentoring Support
- Pensions annual allowance tax charge
- How Things Change
- Somerset Wins Award
- Spam Spam wonderful Spam (you have to be of a certain age)
- A plea from an ST3
Practice Manager Development Coaching and Mentoring Support: Practice Managers are once again being offered coaching and mentoring sessions as part of the programme funded by NHS England, to be taken between January and March 2020.Three 90-minute, one-to-one, tailored sessions with a professional coach mentor are being offered to support Practice Managers to individually think through and progress challenges and opportunities important to them full detail here.
Pensions annual allowance tax charge: Richard Vautrey, chair of GPC issued this statement on Tuesday. “You may have seen proposals reported in the media last night for the NHS to pay doctors’ pension tax bills this year in order to avoid a reduction in sessions and shifts for the rest of this year. The BMA’s response to this proposal can be found here.
I wanted to make you aware that we have been in discussion with NHSE/I about this proposal and it would apply for all doctors, including GPs. We are awaiting further detail about this specific proposal, and particularly how it would be operationalised for GPs given the retrospective nature [of GP finances] which is different to many other doctors; but essentially it means that the annual allowance tax charge for this financial year (for anyone that incurs it) will be covered via a scheme pays route. We are also still in discussions with NHSE/I [about…] additional actions we can agree to reduce the impact of the pensions taxation, and around the operation of the employers contribution, that is currently paid centrally, from April 2020 onward. The BMA has called again on the next government to get rid of the annual allowance altogether.”
How Things Change: In 1965 GPs demanded a new contract and threatened mass resignation from the NHS. One of their complaints was that there was no provision for improvement of practices. A GP who employed a secretary or nurse was paid no more than others who did the minimum. The main problem, however, was in comparison to the pay and status of hospital consultants. The career earnings of a consultant at that time were 48% higher than those of a GP. The Socialist Medical Association complained that the role of the family doctor as the lynch-pin of the NHS, as intended in the NHS Act had not been fulfilled. (Wikipedia)
Somerset Wins Award: The Best Monitoring of DMARDs award at the Eclipse conference on 14th November went to…Somerset! In a tearful acceptance speech Shaun Green said, “As I often say – my team and I don’t do any prescribing or monitoring so this award is all down to our GP practices keeping DMARD patients safe.”
Spam Spam wonderful Spam (you have to be of a certain age): If practices receive what they feel is a spam e mail you can email it as an attachment to spamreports@nhs.net. Please ensure that you attach a copy of the offending SPAM email in .msg format. This must be saved directly from your mailbox, not from a forward or copy
A plea from an ST3: Dr Daniel Bunce In a moment of madness has decided that on top of his work, personal life, and exam preparation to apply for the Fjallraven Polar.
This is a 300km dog sled expedition across Arctic Sweden, with a team comprised of 24 everyday people. The team is split into twelve 2-person teams representing different regions of the world. I have applied to represent Great Britain & Benelux.
The help that he needs from practices across Somerset and the LMC is that 50% of the team is selected by popular vote. The vote is currently very tight and he needs all the help he can get, as there are still another 21 days to go.
Voting takes less than 30 seconds. Please vote here.
Kind Regards
Jill
Jill Hellens
Executive Director
Somerset LMC
Crown Medical Centre, Venture Way, Taunton, TA2 8QY
Tel: (01823) 331 428
Fax: (01823) 338 561
www.somersetlmc.co.uk
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