Losing out on leadership

Our GP blogger, Dr Clive Henderson is up for being a leader – until he realises his practice has to subsidise it

I recently joined the ranks of the Clinical Leadership Network (CLN), a fine organisation that is going to make me into an innovative clinical with effective commissioning at the heart of what I do.

But I shot myself in the foot.

It operates on a regional level which means considerable travel to attend meetings. Indeed this factor put some of my colleagues off to begin with.

I have to travel for well over two hours, pay for city parking and receive a maximum £300 for a half day.

I thought it would be much better to make the meeting whole days and suggested this and to give the organisers their due , they very quickly took the idea up, held a vote and the consensus agreed to make the meetings full day.

Leadership in action indeed.

But, horror of horrors, the CLN organisers said reimbursement was still going to be £300 despite it now being for a whole ,not half day.

With locum rates running between £70 and £95 per hour, the sums did not add up and my GP partners could not reasonably be expected to subsidise the programme.

My fellow CLN colleagues and I protested . Resignations were offered. After quite a considerable gap and ambiguous messages , it seems a compromise my have been reached where fully receipted locum invoices for the day would have to be submitted and will now ‘probably' be reimbursed .

Oh goody. Its nice to feel valued. I am not convinced my GP colleagues, practice manager or patients feel a succession of locums equates to a missing partner. I don't think the BMA does either.

I am afraid this is symptomatic of the problems we are going to encounter when GPs are increasingly seconded to do consortia and commissioning work.

I am sorry this blog is not very amusing but then, neither is the situation.

Dr Clive Henderson is chair of Goole, Howden and West Wolds locality commissioning group

Dr Clive Henderson