Doctors training exclusion due to ‘lack of funding for GP retention’

An ICB has excluded GPs from a training course due to lack of funding for their retention, in a move that the BMA’s GP committee described as ‘disgraceful’.

GPs in Lancashire and South Cumbria will be excluded from Red Whale update training this year, ‘due to lack of ICB funding for GP retention activities’.

The training, delivered by medical education provider Red Whale, involves latest clinical guidance, a leadership element and other resources, but would only be open to advanced clinical practitioners, including nurses, AHPs and pharmacists.

GPC England deputy chair Dr David Wrigley, a GP in in Carnforth, north Lancashire, shared an update on the course in a post on X and said that this was ‘a gut punch’ to GPs in Lancashire and Cumbria.

He said: ‘I’ve had GPs contact me thinking they just don’t matter and considering throwing the towel in when the ICB just tosses you aside.’

He told Pulse GPs ‘already feel under-valued’ and it is ‘very disappointing’ that GPs were ‘set aside to make room for savings’. 

Dr Wrigley added: ‘How much longer are GPs expected to accept this for? We’re struggling to recruit more GPs and retain the ones we have and now we can’t even guarantee CPD – the training that keeps GPs up to date on clinical guidance.

‘We want to be able to best serve our patients and practices and that means keeping up to date on relevant training. This is short-term cost cutting that will have a long-term cost.’

GPC England chair Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer said that the move was ‘disgraceful’ and ‘pathetic’, and added that there is ‘a real opportunity’ for the new Government ‘to root out the toxic narratives still present within NHS England culture’.

Other GP leaders also condemned the ICB’s decision. The BMA’s sessional GPs committee chair Dr Mark Steggles said he ‘wouldn’t underestimate’ the number of GPs ‘on the brink of throwing the towel in’ and handing back their contracts or leaving the NHS and the UK.

On X, he said: ‘Another example of the many final straws and a clear message that GPs aren’t valued. The hope that came with a change in Government is waning fast.’

And GP registrars committee chair Dr Malinga Ratwatte said this was an ‘absolutely disgraceful treatment’ of GPs from a system that ‘supposedly recognises the importance of community care in improving health outcomes in the UK’.  

The ICB told Pulse that the update was ‘not accurate’ as they are still reviewing some of their funding for primary care.

Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB’s chief executive Kevin Lavery said: ‘The finances are clearly challenging but we have protected funding for GP retention.

‘This is not accurate as we are still reviewing some of our funding for primary care and this resilience programme.’

The ICB’s chief operating officer, Craig Harris, said: ‘The ICB is aware of a communication from a training provider partner regarding the provision of future training. 

‘The ICB can confirm that it is in the process of considering the ongoing funding for this scheme which we are aware general practice teams value. 

‘We recognise the importance of general practice team education and training and have continued to invest in the primary care training hub, recruitment and retention schemes and workforce development.’

NHS England declined to comment as it told Pulse this was a decision taken by the ICB.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson told Pulse: ‘This Government inherited a broken NHS and general practice has been neglected.

‘We will build a Ten-Year Plan to reform our health service and make it fit for the future, including by shifting the focus of healthcare out of the hospital and into the community.

‘We have committed to hiring an extra 1,000 GPs into the NHS by the end of this year, have announced a contract uplift for GPs and practice staff, and will ensure practices have the resources they need to offer patients the highest quality care.’

At the beginning of the year, NHS England announced it would end two schemes designed to retain GPs through professional development, a decision which disappointed GP leaders.

RCGP chair Professor Kamila Hawthorne said that it was ‘both surprising and very disappointing’, particularly at a time when ‘we need to be doing absolutely everything we can to keep GPs in the workforce’.

Note: This story was updated at 3:58pm on 17 September to reflect that the communication shared on X had not been published by Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB. Please note, the ICB had ample time for correcting before publication.