The value of mentoring for practice managers

The mentoring of practice managers by practice managers can help keep people in their roles and support them to thrive. Sarah Wild explains more.

Being a practice manager can feel lonely at times, acknowledges Luan Stewart.

‘It’s the nature of the job. You’re managing finance, HR and any legal issues that arise. You have to be multi-skilled and also realise that you’re not going to be everybody’s friend,’ says Ms Stewart.

She understands this sense of isolation only too well, having recently retired from an 18-year career in practice management, working within surgeries of differing demographics. Over this time, she acquired a wealth of knowledge and skills – and hard-won resilience – which she’s keen to share with others in the field.

Luan now offers individual and group mentoring to practice managers across Lancashire (via the South Cumbria Training Hub) and Greater Manchester in a scheme funded by the area’s GP Excellence Programme. Sessions – which are free to practices and mentees – cover topics such as HR, finance and health and safety in the highly specialised context of general practice. Ms Stewart draws on mentoring training and first-hand insights to offer guidance and advice in an open yet confidential forum (see case study).

Why target practice managers?

Luan developed her offer with support from Lorna Laflin, deputy programme director for Greater Manchester Primary Care Provider Board. Also a former practice manager, Ms Laflin comprehends the lynchpin role managers play in general practice – and the dearth of support.

‘Practice managers are the bridge between partners and staff,’ she says. ‘But when you step into a role, quite often your predecessor has left and there’s no handover.

‘You may come with a background in HR, operations or estates management but quite often you don’t have that skillset in everything – and general practice finance is very different to a lot of other businesses that people have worked in.’

Ms Laflin argues that mentoring schemes are highly economical in comparison with losing talented people – or practices failing.  

‘We recognise the need to help people at an early stage; even if they’re not a new manager and are just new to practice management,’ she says. ‘If we don’t, there are problems further up the system, even though it feels like it’s a practice issue.’

What’s available?

With no national mentoring programme for practice managers, it’s down to individual areas to develop their own initiatives, sourcing funding via training hubs or local medical committees (LMCs).

For example, in West Yorkshire, mentoring is delivered through a community interest company, as part of a range of wellbeing support services for primary care teams.

‘GPM plus was born out of the local LMC,’ explains former practice manager Chris Brennan, who is a mentor under the scheme. ‘We started in 2022 and since then we’ve put around 100 practice managers through mentoring.’

Mr Brennan has a 35-year career in practice management and a desire to support practice managers in an increasingly complex role.

‘A partner once said to me, “The success of this practice is a combination of clinical and managerial”. I think it’s invaluable to have some quality time when you can step off the treadmill of the day-to-day job and speak to somebody who has been there,’ he says.

How does mentoring work?

The value of mentoring lies in its combination of guidance, support and knowledge exchange.

While coaching is a performance-driven process – using questioning to help people find their own solutions to problems and maximise their potential – mentoring is a development-focused relationship. It’s where an experienced mentor advises and guides a mentee based on their own knowledge and experience.

This may mean working through specific problems or acting as a sounding board for ideas, helping participants to grow in confidence, lead more effectively and manage transitions. Sessions also support people in pursuing their own development goals and improving their work-life balance.

Mr Brennan favours virtual one-to-ones, offering eight sessions to practice managers (or aspiring managers) over the course of a year.

He explains that topics for discussion are guided by the mentee and that trust is crucial.

‘I’ll suggest, “Make some notes about any challenges you have, so that we can then work them through together”,’ he says. ‘People have to be confident that they can open up and know that it’s going nowhere.’

Group mentoring

Meanwhile, Luan offers group mentoring with new practice managers (one cohort per quarter) in addition to one-to-ones for any manager who needs support with a particular issue, such as a partnership dispute or HR challenge.

Her virtual group mentoring comprises four to six 90-minute sessions on specified topics. These are highly interactive, enabling confidential knowledge-sharing, connection and networking for managers who might otherwise not have met.

‘I used to do all the mentoring individually,’ says Luan. ‘The reason we went to groups was to do with costs originally, but we also found that people work with each other.

‘We have 12 practice managers in a session and everyone brings something to the table. I’ll start talking a subject through, but I’ll ask their opinions; people can’t just sit there, cameras or mics off. I get it across at the beginning that there are no silly questions or answers; we’re all learning.’

For some, the challenge is not knowing how to juggle the volume of work or how to delegate, she says. They get bogged down with tasks that can be done quickly. So, Luan has created handouts to help participants work through different challenges.

Who benefits?

This learning can be swiftly applied, helping practice managers to justify carving out time during the day to take part in mentorship.

‘I can run sessions in the evening, but some people want to keep it in work time, because they value their work-life balance,’ says Mr Brennan.

After all, while mentees benefit from support and skills development, so do their practices – and the wider NHS.

‘Quite a few of the new practice managers have said that they don’t feel they could have stayed in the role without some kind of backing, because they were thrown in at the deep end,’ recalls Luan. ‘This has made a big difference.’

Enabling seasoned practice managers to become mentors is also invaluable, ensuring that their crucial skills and insights are not lost.

‘There are a lot of managers who are heading towards retirement but are not ready to stop completely – and want to share their knowledge,’ notes Luan.

‘People want to give back,’ agrees Mr Brennan. ‘I wish practice manager mentorship could be rolled out nationally, but it’s all down to funding. That’s the biggest challenge: how do you convince the relevant authorities that supporting managers is a good place to put investment?’