WEST PENNINE LOCAL MEDICAL COMMITTEE CONSTITUTION

1.    General

The Committee shall be known as West Pennine Local Medical Committee and cover the two areas of Oldham and Tameside & Glossop Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs). The committee is dedicated to representing and actively supporting the interests of all general medical practitioners in its constituent area whether operating under GMS, PMS or APMS contracts, and whether employed or freelance sessional doctors. It may also represent the specific interests of individual general medical practitioners in its constituent area who have active subscriptions.

2.    Functions

As a local Committee its views need not reflect the National position of the BMA/GPC and at all times we should keep the wellbeing and interests of our Patients at the heart of our decisions as we strive to improve local healthcare.

The Committee is the key local body working with and supporting GPs as providers of primary medical services. It represents GP interests with the full range of bodies which commission services from GPs and practices: NHS England (both Primary Care and Public Health England), the Local Authorities and the CCGs.

3.    Membership of Committee

Persons eligible for Membership
All members of the Committee must be:

• Registered with the General Medical Council and (unless by special category) and

• On the Performers List of NHS England and working primarily in the areas covered by either Oldham or Tameside & Glossop CCG and

• Contributing in person or by practice/ employer to the LMC’s levy.

Membership of the Committee
There shall be equal representation in terms of overall numbers of members with one-half from Oldham and one-half from Tameside and Glossop.

The Full Committee shall consist of:

• Up to twenty-two direct members, eleven from Oldham and eleven from Tameside & Glossop

• Localities shall be assigned as appropriate within each area. For Oldham, there shall be eight localities co-terminous with the localities of Oldham CCG; for Tameside & Glossop the previous 5 localities shall be retained. There shall therefore be different numbers of localities in each area and consequently in the numbers of members elected on a locality basis, being eight in Oldham and six in Tameside and Glossop. The balance of members in each area shall be appointed on a generalist basis. The total number of members per area shall remain as one –half of the overall membership of the Committee (see Appendix A for details of localities and balance of members per area)

• Further (electable) places should be offered to one GP Registrar from within Tameside & Glossop and one from within Oldham.

• The constitution of the Committee will be automatically revisited following re-election at both Generalist and Locality elections.

Co-opted Members

Other attendees may be co-opted by the Committee at the Committee’s discretion, without regard to the restrictions stipulated for membership. Both CCGs will be offered co-opted membership from within their Board. Any 1 locally elected GPC member and any 1 locally elected RCGP member may also be offered a co-opted place.

Co-opted membership has full speaking but not voting privileges .Co-opted members may be asked to leave if a 2nd part Meeting is required and it was considered that their presence could be seen to place them or the LMC in a compromising position.

Guests

Each general meeting of the Committee shall be open to attendance by anyone on the Performers List of NHS England for the areas covered by either Oldham or Tameside & Glossop CCG. Those so named have the right to attend. There will be a standing invitation to practice manager representatives, one from each Practice Manager Learning Forum. By special arrangement other guests will made welcome e.g. medical students, nurse prescribers, patients, at the decision of the Officers. Attendees will be informed whether they have speaking rights at the meeting, prior to the start of the meeting, but will have not have voting rights.

4.    Election and terms of office

Method of election
Both Locality and Generalist members will be appointed for a period of four years on a rotating basis. Elections for around one-half of the membership will be held two years apart, with locality members on one election cycle and then generalist and the balance of some locality members on the other election cycle.

All GPs (whether Sessional, Salaried, Portfolio, Locum or those with Responsibility to a Registered List) are entitled to stand when there is a vacancy for Generalist or Locality positions.

Anyone agreeing to stand for the Committee must be proposed by someone on the performers list respective to the application (i.e. on a Generalist or Locality footprint) and seconded by a further doctor on the performers list, again respective to their application, while not working at the same practice as the Candidate. Reply is by, close of deadline, by post received, using the approved Nomination form, correctly completed (Appendixes B1&2)

Electors, including nominators, must be registered medical practitioners on the appropriate performers list. If the number of nominated candidates qualified for election does not exceed the number of vacancies these candidates will deem to have been elected without ballot.

Applicants wishing to stand for election but who have not previously contributed to the LMC’s levy will be entitled to stand given their pledge to subscribe from then on and pay any arrears that may be outstanding from the beginning of the current financial year.

Registrars on the performers list will be approached via their course organisers in August of each year and appointed for the duration of their Registrar period. Should only one or no Registrar be appointed then the offer would be extended, for one place, to be filled by any ST1 or ST2 doctor to take up for the whole duration of their vocational training.

All elections will be held in the month of February by “first past the post system” with the LMC’s Administrator undertaking the count. The result of the ballot will not be published but will be available on request from the Administrator.

Newly elected members are considered to be members as of the 1st of April.

5.    Roles of officers and members

Officers of the Committee
The Committee will appoint, in turn, as appropriate to fulfil the roles of: a Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary (with provision to job share) and a Treasurer.
Although not a requirement of the Committee it is preferable for the Officers to come from within both Tameside & Glossop and Oldham so that the Chair and Secretary have more ready access to local knowledge covering, between them, the whole patch. This would similarly be of merit between the Vice-Chair and Treasurer. Where possible, the principle of balance between the two areas will be maintained.

The Committee may at its discretion also appoint a Liaison Officer who is not a member of the Committee to undertake management functions and represent the Committee at external meetings. This would be a non-voting role.

The GP Officers and any non-GP appointees are expected to fulfil their respective roles and will meet on a monthly basis, usually on the first Tuesday of the month, although they need not meet if there is no business to discuss, e.g. when there is no following LMC meeting. The Treasurer may not be required to attend every meeting.

Duties of Members
Members are expected to:

• Contribute items to the Agenda

• Prepare adequately for each meeting and be familiar with the paperwork distributed by post or e-mail before the meeting

• Consider agenda items, past minutes and correspondence received to debate them informedly at the regular meetings of the full Committee.

In addition, on appointment members will identify and advise of areas of special interest and expertise, in order to supplement the effectiveness of the Committee. During their term of office, members will undertake specific additional duties on behalf of the Committee, which may include leading on particular issues and projects and regular representation of the Committee at external meetings. Roles will where possible reflect declared special interests and areas of expertise.

It is recognised that a small number of members may have limitations on the scope of the specific additional duties they undertake, particularly regarding representation of the Committee and attendance at meetings with external bodies. Such members may include those also serving as CCG Chair/Vice-Chair, and non-principal GPs whose contractual hours preclude attendance at meetings during their work period. These members may therefore undertake other duties, including document reviews and reports to the Committee and mentoring, briefing and supporting in their areas of special interest or expertise those other members who are representing the Committee with external bodies.

The Administrator will maintain an up-to-date list of members and logs of areas of special interest and expertise and of the additional duties assigned to each member.

6.    Vacancies, retirements and absences

Unfilled vacancies
Where membership vacancies exist, elections specific to the nature of that membership can be held, at the discretion of the Committee, between the normal elections for Generalist or Locality members.

Cessation of membership
Membership of the committee shall cease (thereby creating a vacancy) if he or she

• Ceases to be on the GMC’s Register

• Ceases to be on the Performers List of NHS England and working primarily in the areas covered by either Oldham or Tameside & Glossop CCG and

• Ceases to be a practitioner contributing either in person or by practice to the LMC’s levy

• Resigns their membership

• Has been absent for four consecutive meetings of the committee, having been approached after three consecutive meetings and failing to give satisfactory explanation to the committee

• Leaves Vocational Training.

Suspension
Any member suspended by the General Medical Committee or NHS England will be duly suspended from their role within the LMC, until re-instated or otherwise.

7.    Meetings

Quorum
One third of the standing number of voting members of the committee must be present, including members from both within Tameside & Glossop and Oldham. At least one Officer must also be present.

Meetings
The committee will meet ten times a year usually on the second Monday of each month between 7.15pm to 9.30pm. Formal meetings will not normally be held in August or December although a special meeting may be held in December/ January and opened to constituents and other LMCs. The meetings date and venue can be changed if members are in agreement, e.g. for an annual open meeting.

Agenda of Meetings
The Agenda for the monthly meeting will follow the format defined as Appendix C. Two weeks prior to the meeting all LMC Members will be asked for items which will be discussed at the Officers meeting the week before. All members have the right to table an item, in advance of the meeting, for discussion.

Matters for discussion
All LMC members are entitled to submit matters for discussion to the Officers group who will prioritise and schedule the agenda for monthly meetings. All members submitting a request for an item to be heard will have that item heard; however if it is submitted after the formation of the agenda (e.g. raised as any other business) it may be deferred until the next regular meeting at the discretion of the Chair and/or other Officers present.

Minutes
Each monthly general meeting will have minutes taken by the Administrator (or appointed note taker). These will be inspected and confirmed/changed by the officers and will be presented as a draft for formal ratification at the next full membership meeting.

8.    Disclosure of interest

Disclosure of interest
It is the individual responsibility of all Committee and co-opted members to declare any direct or indirect interests in any of the items discussed at LMC meetings, where they could be seen to bear on the decisions made at any LMC meetings- noting that it may not only be of personal pecuniary interest that the Committee consider its relevance to the matter in discussion. Such interests will need declared whenever and wherever they may arise whenever someone is acting on behalf of or in the name of the LMC. After such a declaration such a member may be asked, by the Committee (or, if alone, decide themselves) not to take part in voting, remain silent, or remove themselves from the discussion entirely.

Being involved through any personal or family, political, medico-political, DH, Hospital or CCG posts does not automatically constitute a conflict of interest with being an ordinary Member or Officer of West Pennine LMC although on occasion the Committee may have to determine whether a necessary and inescapable conflict has arisen and which course/s of action are open to the Member. In such a circumstance the Officers or Members will propose the conflict for it to then be discussed by the Members or Officers in the first instance (i.e. the Members if the individual is an Officer) for that determination, in turn, to be accepted or rejected by the other group. All members of the LMC have a personal responsibility to ensure that all such interests are declared and kept up to date in the LMC’s Register of Interests which will, in any case, be reviewed with each new membership.

Inappropriate Behaviour
On occasions when a conflict of interest is seen to have arisen, that has not been declared in the normal manner, such a breach should be discussed by the whole Committee to decide if it brings their continuing membership of the LMC into question. The Committee can also consider the circumstances if a member becomes culpable of unreasonable or immoral behaviour or a criminal offence in respect of which their continued participation in the LMC would damage the reputation of the Committee and/or diminish its ability to effectively discharge its duty. If such a step were taken the decision would stand for the planned duration of that member’s election to LMC whereupon, should they so wish and petition, it could be reconsidered

9.    Funding and financial issues

Funding
Expenses of the Committee and income for the Committee are, preferentially, generated exclusively by a voluntary levy, on a capitation basis. If this proves insufficient to meet the needs of the Committee or is otherwise deemed as inappropriate the Committee may be asked by the Treasurer or Officers to consider moving to a statutory levy or combination of both. The formal mechanism of collection of the voluntary levy will be as determined by the GPC and enacted through the appropriate NHS payment agency.  The amount of the levy will be set to provide fiscal balance for the LMC and prior to any adjustments being enacted a recommendation will be made by the Treasurer/Officers for the membership to consider. The accounts should, at all times, include a reserve or “fighting fund” to enable a period of extraordinary activity by membership or engage and pay for legal help and advice etc. As long as it is financially able (as decided by the Treasurer/Officers) payments will be made to the GPC defence fund.

Remuneration
Remuneration of Committee members will be based upon  average local rates and payable for any meeting attended on behalf of the LMC, where not otherwise paid for (e.g. by the CCG requesting membership). Such a payment will be reflective of time spent in preparation, travel, attendance and reporting back to LMC and nominally be designated as a piece meal payment. The level of this payment will be reviewed in accordance with changes in local rates of payment and the income and reserves available to the LMC. Members remain independent contractors responsible for their own tax, national insurance and pension, although they may opt to be paid by bankroll, directly, should they so wish.

All work undertaken by members and submitted for payment must be documented to the LMC and normally a report submitted as correspondence to be discussed at the LMC monthly meeting. For meetings exempt from producing a report the exemption must be notified to the Administrator.

All Officers and the Administrator will be paid under PAYE. Payments to Officers will be made on a monthly/ meeting basis. The Officers of the Committee will be paid an allowance permitting them to undertake their roles effectively and the levels of payment will be reviewed annually at the Treasurers report if these sums are proposed to be varied. The majority of members must be in agreement. Any Officer who becomes ill or is otherwise unable to fulfil their LMC duties will continue to be remunerated in line with BMA recommendation to CCGs for GPs (currently 6 months full pay followed by 6 months half pay).

Current fees will be published alongside the standing Constitution as Appendix B.

Financial year
The financial year for the LMC runs from the 1st April to the 31st of March.

Treasurer’s report
A treasurer’s report, including a written summary of the independently finalised and verified accounts, will be discussed with the committee on an annual basis. The full accounts for the committee will be available for inspection, by request, to the LMC administrator.

10. Amendments to the Constitution

Any member may submit a proposal for amendment to the Officers for debate at the next, or next but one, full meeting; given that the proposal must be circulated with the paperwork for that meeting. Changes to the constitution require two thirds majority of members at a quorate meeting.

11. Cessation of the Committee

If the Committee is amalgamated or reorganised and there remain any residual funds or liabilities these shall be distributed between the new Committee/s involved so as to equitably reflect the proportions in which Members are transferred to other Committee/s.

12. Definitions

Version 2 as amended at LMC meeting Dec 2014