I realised earlier this week that my last blog was back in April… Where has the time gone? Well, I can tell you quite easily – in a blur of demand, #*¥!* paperwork, more general #*¥!*, forging ahead with IGPM stuff, a bit more #*¥!* … and, hey presto, the months have flown.

In the last blog, I told you what the IGPM was up to and how everything was going. For the most part, everything is moving in the right direction – we’re making strides forwards (working our butts off, truth be told!) to create and sustain those relationships that we need to make our working lives better… and I’m not referring to regular coffee breaks (or even drinking coffee while it’s still hot) or getting someone else to deal with our emails… No, I’m talking about getting PCSE to see the error of their ways (two steps forwards, 33 steps back!), getting the BMA on side (definitely done), creating a positive working stream with the CQC (on its way), and at the LMC conference a motion was put forward specifically about PMs and that was carried – which is fantastic news! But NHSE and the new-to-partnership scheme… well, that’s not so good.

In my last blog, I referred to a snippet I’d found online where NHSE were talking about PM development and how vital we are, blah blah blah… but you might remember it hadn’t been updated since 2016, so that’s how #*¥!* vital we are to them!

There is, let’s call it, a ‘dragging of the feet’ by NHS England with regard to the NtP scheme. Some of us who are dinosaurs in the profession and perhaps a little cynical (Who? Me? Never!) might think that NHSE are deliberately dragging their feet. It might even be suggested that they feel we’re not worthy of such a scheme but don’t know how to tell us in so many words… It could well be, however, that they’d absolutely love us to come on board as partners and eligible recipients of the ‘golden hello’ but they’re just struggling with crossing the Ts and dotting the Is… On the other hand, I truly fear the worst and it’s my belief that we may never cross that line.

Now, it could be true for many of us that we’re not looking for a partnership role (we might be happy where we are), and there are some out there who’ve successfully been offered partnerships, with no hint of a financial incentive, and they’ve snapped the offer up… BUT we must remember that it’s the PRINCIPLE of the thing that’s at stake. Regardless of whether I want a partnership or not, I’ve got over three #*¥!* decades in primary care behind me (not so many in front of me!) and yet I, the dinosaur that I am, am not currently eligible for this particular scheme. But if you’re a new-in-post physician’s associate, a role still largely in its infancy in primary care terms, you ARE eligible for the scheme. How is that fair?!

I don’t have a problem with any clinician who’s eligible for the scheme – if you want it, and get offered it, then you can go for it; but why am I not offered the same Ts & Cs as you?!

We talk a great deal about discrimination in the workforce, be that about age, gender, race, abilities… but no one is talking about this as a blatant act of discrimination against a professional workforce responsible for steering every GP surgery in the land in the right direction, every hour of every day (and weekends when necessary!).

You’ll be aware that this is high on the IGPM agenda. You should also be aware that we’re prodding NHSE at every single opportunity to get an answer out of them, but as yet to no avail (and we’ll be releasing an official statement in the next few days).

We’re nearly ready for our accreditation process to be rolled out; it just needs a road test before we launch it properly. So, if you’re an IGPM member, you’ll be able to apply for that accreditation soon. This is hugely important – without it, those at the top of the food chain will continue to bleat on that we’re not a profession.

If you’re not a member, then please, please sign up here. We need our numbers to increase so that we truly are a force to be reckoned with. Without your support, we won’t get anywhere and all of this will just be white noise.

#PMPower

Nicola Davies