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Top tips for a partnership offer letter

Laying the foundations of a partnership in general practice begins with a comprehensive and concise offer letter. By setting out the terms and conditions and entering into a signed agreement, the parties involved will be fully aware of their position and obligations from the beginning; you will also mitigate the chances of a dispute later on.

DR Solicitors, specialist legal advisors in primary care, have provided the following guidance for getting your partnership letter right, to prevent any issues arising further down the line:

Taking on a new partner is a significant step for any GP practice, and it’s important to get it right from the outset.

Once a new partner has been selected, you should send out a clear partnership offer letter.

Why do you need an offer letter?

The letter serves as written confirmation of the key terms of the appointment. By properly setting out the terms, the offer letter reduces the risk of a dispute over the offered terms and it can provide some protection for the partnership if a partnership deed is not entered into.

What about the partnership deed?

If you admit a partner and you do not update your partnership deed, you put all your existing partnership arrangements at risk, including the NHS contract and the surgery premises. This situation is often described as a ‘partnership at will’. So, you must add a new partner to your partnership deed as soon as possible, once your offer has been accepted, and get the deed signed.

GP practices often think that the partnership deed does not need to be updated until after an incoming partner has completed their assessment period. This is not how it should be done; it creates additional risk for the practice.

Because practices often delay (at their peril!) updating the partnership deed, this makes the offer letter even more vital because it can act as a ‘holding agreement’ and can be evidence of the admission terms until the deed is signed.

Here are ten top tips on the information that should be included in the offer letter:

Number Title
1 Commencement date Detail the start date for the new partner
2 Offer of partnership Clearly state that the position is self-employed
3 Notifications Who to notify, including the CCG and CQC, once the offer has been accepted
4 Sessions This is your opportunity to outline the role you want to fill
5 Partnership share Is it full parity or rising to parity over time? Or fixed share?
6 Working capital Set out any working capital contribution that is expected
7 Surgery premises Do you want the partner to buy in or to go onto the lease?
8 Mutual assessment period Length and notice period, driven by the start date
9 Annual leave entitlement Standard leave entitlement – but what about bank holidays and study leave?
10 Acceptance Explicitly state the time frame within which the offer must be accepted

DR Solicitors’ recommendations

Make sure your offer letter is clear and sets out all the key points listed above. If accepted, protect the business and get the partnership deed updated and signed as quickly as possible.

The template will hopefully provide a great foundation for a new partnership and will stand you in good stead for the future. For further reading, including a checklist and this new offer letter, please refer to the New partnership guidance document [PLUS].

This template and guidance were prepared in conjunction with DR Solicitors, specialist legal advisors in primary care.

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