Statutory Levy
A capitation-based levy is deducted from practices and managed by Primary Care Services England (PCSE) under the names of individual Local Medical Committees (LMCs).
This levy is paid by all primary medical service contractors, including General Medical Services (GMS), Personal Medical Services (PMS), and Alternative Provider Medical Services (APMS). While only GMS contractors have payment of this levy written into their contract, PMS and APMS contractors in the Surrey and Sussex Local Medical Committees (SSLMCs) area also contribute.
By combining the statutory levy of five LMCs to fund a single LMC Secretariat, SSLMCs achieve significant economies of scale. We are now the third-largest LMC in the UK by population, covering almost 400 practices.
General Practitioners Defence Fund (GPDF) Levy
There is a separate levy paid by practices, again on a capitation basis, which is not statutorily required under any primary medical service contract. Formerly called the Voluntary Levy, it is now known as the General Practitioners Defence Fund (GPDF) Levy.
This levy is passed on to the GPDF, which uses the funding to support LMC conferences, contribute towards British Medical Association (BMA) General Practitioners Committee (GPC) members’ honoraria, and help fund the GPC Executive Officer Team. That team negotiates on behalf of general practice with NHS England, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and other national bodies. The GPDF also provides development support to LMCs.
Recent governance changes at the GPDF mean that the majority of its board members are now nominated and elected by LMCs—recognising that LMCs are its primary funders and should have a role in directing strategy. More information can be found on the GPDF website.
LMCs are not permitted to use GPDF Levy funds for their statutory functions (such as running the Secretariat). However, because the GPDF has recently abated a portion of the Levy, SSLMCs has been able to use these funds for specific projects. These have included:
- The SSLMCs Members’ Away Day, funded from reserves
- Educational programmes (e.g. Practice Index and Maternity/Premises Workshops)
- Grants to support local initiatives (e.g. the Grow Your Own Health seed project in Sussex)
- Support for emerging organisations, such as the Institute of General Practice Management (IGPM)
General Practitioner Committee (GPC)
Constituency representatives within the SSLMCs area
The GPC in England is an elected Committee; it includes constituency representatives, who in the SSLMC area are: –
- Dr Chrissie Clayton: East and West Sussex
- Dr Julius Parker: Croydon and Surrey
- Dr Richard Van Mellaerts: Kingston, Richmond, Merton, Sutton, and Wandsworth.
GPC members can also be elected annually from the LMC Conference or the BMA Annual Representative Meeting.
GPC members are also elected annually from the national LMC Conference and the BMA Annual Representative Meeting. Approximately a quarter of GPC members are also LMC Officers. In SSLMCs, our GPC representatives are closely linked with the LMC, which ensures timely communication and policy awareness. LMCs without this connection can sometimes be disadvantaged when it comes to horizon scanning and early engagement with national policy developments.
GPC UK and the Devolved Nations
GPC England, along with GPCs for Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, and the committees representing sessional GPs and GP registrars, are sub-committees of GPC UK.
GPC UK now has a more limited role, as GP contracts and NHS structures in the four nations have diverged significantly. Each GPC negotiates directly with its respective government. The UK and English LMC Conferences remain independent of GPC, with elected Chairs, Deputy Chairs, and Agenda Committees. However, these officers do attend GPC meetings because of the Conferences’ role in determining GPC policy.
The Cameron Fund
The Cameron Fund is ‘The GPs own charity’: it is the only medical benevolent fund that solely supports General Practitioners and their dependents, who find themselves experiencing hardship or poverty. The Fund is named after Sir James Cameron, a Sussex GP who was Chair of the General Medical Services Committee (the forerunner of the General Practitioners Committee) from 1964 to 1970. He oversaw the pivotal Charter for Family Doctor Services in 1966, which ushered in what many now consider a golden age of UK General Practice.