Senior GPs have welcomed the findings of a long-awaited report into the future of partnerships in primary care.

The report was published yesterday (15 January) by Dr Nigel Watson and colleagues at the Department of Health and Social Care. It is based on written feedback from over 120 individuals and organisations, and visits to 25 general practices.

It contains recommendations for the government, NHS England and other representative bodies, developed from the independent GP partnership review, to improve the GP model and “ensure a sustainable future”.

Among the recommendations is a call to reduce the personal risk and unlimited liability currently associated with GP partnerships. The authors also call for a wider range of health care professionals to be available for services in the community – this should be embedded as part of general practice, they write.

Other recommendations focus on boosting funding for GP training places, and for medical training to encourage on general practice “as a positive career choice”.

“General practice remains the fundamental building block of the NHS and essential for the health and wellbeing of the rest of the NHS,” said Dr Watson. “To unleash this potential, general practice needs to see a secure future which is associated with an expanded workforce, less personal financial risk and the working day being more manageable.”

Dr Richard Vautrey of the British Medical Association commented: “The partnership model is the backbone of general practice and is what has given it its strength and resilience, providing the foundation to the NHS for the last 70 years.

“Thus, as has been noted time and time again, if general practice fails, the whole health service crumbles around it.”

Royal College of GPs chair Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard said: “This review is a vote of confidence in GP partnerships and shows that they are an important and viable option for GPs at all stages of their careers, now and in the future.

“There are clear challenges that must be addressed, and this review confronts some of the key issues as to why we are currently finding it more difficult to recruit GP partners.”