GPs in the UK - Responsibilities in a GP Practice
A General Practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is also qualified in general medical practice. GPs are expert medical generalists who provide the first point of contact with the NHS for most people in their communities. Along with numerous benefits, the activity as a GP comes with a number of clinical and administrative responsibilities:
Clinical Responsibilities:
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Following the Job Plan, the GP will undertake a variety of duties including surgery consultations, telephone consultations, and queries, visiting patients at home, checking and signing repeat prescriptions and dealing with queries, paperwork, and correspondence in a timely fashion
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Making professional, autonomous decisions about presenting problems, whether self-referred or referred from other health care workers within the organization
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Assessing the health care needs of patients with undifferentiated and undiagnosed problems
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Screening patients for disease risk factors and early signs of illness
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In consultation with patients and line with current Practice disease management protocols, developing care plans for health
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Providing counseling and health education
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Admitting or discharging patients to and from the caseload and referring to other care providers as appropriate
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Recording clear and contemporaneous consultation notes to agreed standards using the Practice electronic clinical system
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Collecting data for audit purposes
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Compiling and issuing computer-generated acute and repeat prescriptions
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In general, the post-holder will be expected to undertake all the normal duties and responsibilities associated with a GP working within primary care
Other Responsibilities:
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Awareness of and compliance with all relevant Practice policies/guidelines, eg prescribing, confidentiality, data protection, health and safety
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A commitment to life-long learning and audit to ensure evidence-based best practice
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Contributing to evaluation/audit and clinical standard setting within the Practice
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Contributing to the development of computer-based patient records
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Contributing to the summarizing of patient records and Read-Coding patient data
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Contributing to the Practice achievement of QOF and other performance targets