Supporting Practice Managers
Publication date: June 2020
Owing to support and funding from NHS England, the LMC were able to recruit and train a cohort of freelance Practice Manager Appraisers, all of whom are currently working as Practice Managers across the Humber area.
Many of our local Practice Managers report feeling over-burdened and isolated, receiving little formal or ongoing personal and professional development. The peer to peer appraisals on offer as part of this scheme are designed to address this developmental shortfall. These are not intended to be a performance review, but instead an opportunity for reflection on the manager’s work and approach, and to help identify areas for ongoing improvement and development. There is also the opportunity to repeat the review with the same Appraiser at agreed intervals, such as six-monthly or annually.
Several of these peer to peer reviews have been completed over the past year, and the feedback from participants has been very positive:
“It was really nice to be appraised by someone who understood how you felt and was able to provide some good supportive advice that wasn’t just ‘text book’ but from actual real life experiences. The whole process was really informal and [my appraiser] was great. Overall I found it a really positive experience and yes I would definitely do this again”
“It was quite useful to actually sit down and complete the form to enable me to evaluate what my role is. I did find meeting with [my appraiser] and talking through what I had written very useful, and for me to be away from my Practice to do this was of great value.”
“It was really helpful, almost therapeutic! I think the work will lie in being able to implement some of the suggestions. We agreed to keep in touch and meet again to review progress in 6 months.”
Our trained cohort of freelance Practice Manager Appraisers are keen to continue to connect with their local PM colleagues and facilitate these valuable sessions. If you are interested in being part of this scheme, then please contact the Humberside LMCs team by email on humberside.lmcgroup@nhs.net.
If you decide to go ahead and arrange a session, you will be matched with a PM from outside of your CCG area, who contact you directly to make all of the arrangements.