Dear colleague,
We met this week in the context of many uncertainties.
The national contract has not been accepted by GPC England, but Wes Streeting has offered to talk. GPCE accepted this with provisos, so we are in a hiatus period until the end of April when decisions on next steps will be made.
Apart from the Government, no-one seems happy with the unlimited online access requirements nor the barriers to referral – not patients, not GPs and not secondary care. In our meeting, our ICB representatives explained that they have had preliminary discussions with our SEL trusts about the Government plans for 10 specialities to operate Advice & Refer or a Single Point of Access (SPoA). There is much variation between specialities and between trusts, so this is going to be a complicated process. When you factor in that our ICB will be losing one third to a half of its’ staff, it is difficult to see A&R/SPoA being fully implemented in October.
Local specifications are coming incrementally, with the Ardens dashboard making slow progress. We are pushing both the ICB and the Council for reassurances and back-up plans.
On a more positive note, the South London GP-Housing Letter group have worked together to produce a resource for all which explains the health documentation that housing departments need from residents – and they do not need a GP letter! This group comprised representatives of the ICB, Housing teams, Patient Reps and mental health across South London with significant input from Lambeth SPLW and LMC. You can find the information here. It should be coming to you by other routes too.
Working with the Lambeth Together Training and Development Hub, we will soon be sharing a short survey for sessional GPs. Sessional GPs means salaried, locum or other GPs who are not contract holders (partners). We have also commenced a programme of practice visits by committee members, so one way or another you should be hearing from us!
Yours faithfully,
Dr Penelope Jarrett
Chair, Lambeth LMC
Surviving the 2026-27 GP contract – webinars
- 💻 Via Teams, more content details on Londonwide LMCs website.
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Yours faithfully,
Dr Penelope Jarrett
Chair, Lambeth LMC