Practice managers are lobbying for the profession to be recognised as having a core role in the new neighbourhood health service, launched in last week’s 10-year health plan.
The Institute of General Practice Management (IGPM) is to meet the health and social care select committee later this month and will urge MPs to put primary care managers at the heart of the reforms – despite them being overlooked in the new proposals.
The organisation is also campaigning for practice managers to be included in local and national planning when it comes to implementing changes.
The Government’s 10-year plan promises that neighbourhood health centres will be created in local communities, running 12 hours a day, six days a week, and that will bring bigger health teams together under one roof, including nurses, doctors, social care workers, pharmacists, health visitors, palliative care staff, and paramedics and more.
Two new GP contracts will be rolled out from 2026 for GPs keen to lead the new community-based health services and work across larger geographical areas.
However, the IGPM has pointed out that while bringing diagnostic mental health care, rehabilitation and long condition support into the community and offering more joined up and personalised care sounds positive ‘on paper’, there has been no mention in the Government plan about leadership, practice staff training or funding.
Kay Keane, chair of the IGPM warned that this kind of transformation ‘doesn’t happen without the people who lead and manage those services every single day’, adding that despite this ‘practice management is not mentioned in the plan yet’.
As a result, the IGPM is calling for ‘proper recognition of primary care management as a core leadership role within neighbourhood teams’.
Ms Keane explained: ‘Practice managers in primary care don’t just keep the wheels turning, we make sure that the whole engine runs. We are the ones coordinating the buildings, the teams, the rotas, the safety checks, the finances, the digital systems, and, most importantly, the patient experience.
‘We cannot allow this plan to be built on the backs of already stretched teams, with unrealistic expectations and no voice in the design,’ Ms Keane added.
The IGPM will be campaigning for:
- clear career pathways for primary care managers
- fair funding for services
- a seat at the table for practice managers in local and national planning.
The IGPM said in the next few weeks it will be analysing what the 10-year plan means not only for practice managers but also independent GP partnerships, PCNs and the workforce, and asking members for their views before shaping its formal response to the reforms, which it will take to Parliament this month.
Ms Keane said: ‘We’re going to meet the health and social care select committee to share our views on the NHS 10-year plan. We’ll be raising our members’ concerns and highlighting opportunities to ensure its implementation is genuinely fit for purpose, shaped by the views of those who will be tasked with delivering it – primary care managers.
‘We will be pushing hard for the IGPM to be recognised as a key stakeholder in delivering this new future’ she also added.
