On 2 May 2018 we hosted our annual conference – titled “London Calling” – at the Kia Oval. The day was a great success with an array of guest speakers who discussed a range of topics relating to the ongoing challenges NHS general practice faces, while providing guidance about the best ways to meet these challenges.
Nearly 350 people were in attendance for the day. Delegates got to hear from keynote speakers, panel discussions and attend workshops which addressed issues such as technology, workload management, social prescribing and other important topics. Keynote speakers include Dr Michelle Drage, Sir Muir Gray, Dr Aseem Malhotra, Professor Martin Marshall, Dr Stephanie de Giorgio, with the day ably chaired by broadcaster and journalist Tazeen Ahmad. The day provided our delegates with the opportunity to discuss topics and issues in a way that supports the development of their own practices, in a safe environment whilst also answering any questions they had. On behalf of delegates and Londonwide LMCs would like to say thank you to all the speakers who gave their time and attended our event to provide their valuable input.
Our CEO Dr Michelle Drage used her speech to recognise the pressures London’s GPs and practice teams are under and reinforce the role of LMCs in supporting them:
“70 times a day is the new scary and unsustainable normal. 70 complex consults a day. Add to that the chaos of the bureaucracy and the stress of regulation and the scary narrative rapidly becomes ‘I’m Scared’. Too scared to do my job.
“Well, for all those things and more, we at Londonwide LMCs are here for you. We represent; we influence we lead and we care; for you. No other body does this.
“The Londonwide teams have been working hard over the past year on your contracts, an explosion in individual and practice support cases, mergers and super-partnerships, federations, training, providing advice and guidance, preparing for this year’s elections, and maintaining awareness of all of your concerns through our messaging and communications.”
We had excellent feedback from delegates on the day and have had the following feedback from our online evaluation form:
- “Inspirational speakers”
- “The morning and afternoon keynote speakers were excellent at making me reflect on medicine”
- “A good way to take the temperature of current general practice, diagnose the problem and think of ways to treat them”
- “Inspirational talks on how GP can change for the better. I’m ditching the biomedical model (again)”
- “LMC law and GDPR were extremely helpful, a very good presentation and clear information. LAS was also very good, the information was very informative. We assume we know what the LAS do, but there is so much more that they actually can do …good to learn more”
- “The quality improvement workshop was outstanding”
If you attended the conference and have yet to provide feedback please check your inbox for an email containing the feedback form link, the slides used by the speakers on the day and a template certificate of attendance. The email was sent with the subject line of “Londonwide LMCs’ annual conference 2018 – please give us your feedback” on 11 may.
Whilst our Annual Conference is our flagship event, we do also host other events throughout the year. Our list of events can be found here on our website and please feel free to join.
We had a good social media presence on the day with over 100 tweets using #LdnGps18 and over 40 new followers for our Twitter account: @LondonwideLMCs.
Once again many thank you to all those who attended, including constituents, LMC members, speakers and Londonwide LMCs staff, you all contributed in different ways to a really valuable and interesting day.
Last updated : 23 May 2018