Category
Professional Development & Support
Appraisal and revalidation, CPD, professional networks and the ethics of working privately alongside the NHS.
CPD & Revalidation
3 guides
How do I find relevant CPD opportunities for private GPs?
Start from your scope of practice, not a points target: the GMC does not set a number of CPD hours or credits, and expects your learning to cover everything you do, including private work, with reflection on what changed. Mix sources that fit your gaps, such as RCGP and other college learning, local educational meetings, specialist courses, conferences and online modules. If you employ staff, CQC regulations also require you to give them the training their roles need.
How do I get feedback from patients for my private work?
Run a formal patient feedback exercise that includes your private patients at least once in each five-year revalidation cycle, because the GMC requires it and your appraisal must cover your whole scope of practice. If you run a registered service, the CQC also expects you to seek and act on feedback all the time, so add a simple standing route such as a short survey after appointments. Online reviews help your reputation, but never post, buy or hide reviews, and never discuss a patient’s care in a public reply.
How do I get my appraisal and revalidation as a private GP?
Your route depends on your connection for revalidation. If you still do NHS GP work and stay on the performers list, your NHS appraisal and responsible officer cover your private work too, and you must include it. If you go fully private, you connect to a designated body such as a private provider you work for or the Independent Doctors Federation, to a GMC-approved suitable person, or you revalidate directly with the GMC with extra requirements.
Collaboration & Referrals
1 guide
Ethics & Work Arrangements
7 guides
Can I work as a private GP and in the NHS as a GP?
Yes, many GPs combine NHS and private work, and it is often the easiest way to start. The main rules are that an NHS practice cannot charge its own registered patients, private work should not happen in your NHS time or premises unless agreed, and you need separate indemnity for the private work. Your annual appraisal covers both, and private income is not NHS-pensionable.
How do I handle conflicts of interest in private practice?
Avoid conflicts where you can, be open about the ones you cannot avoid, declare them formally and record them in the notes, as the GMC requires. In private practice the common ones are charging for what you recommend, selling products, referring to services you own and payments from industry or private hospitals. Keep a register of interests, tell patients at the point of decision and write a short policy.
Is sessional private GP work available?
Yes. Private GP clinics, private hospital GP services, online providers and corporate health services all take on sessional GPs, and it is the simplest way to start because the provider holds the registration and runs the business. You will need a GMC licence, your own indemnity for the private work in most cases, a recent appraisal, an enhanced DBS check and references.
Is there a minimum number of hours I need to work as a private GP?
No. No law, GMC rule or CQC rule sets a minimum number of hours for private GP work, so you can work one session a month or full time, as long as the service you work in is properly regulated and you have indemnity. The practical limits come from elsewhere: you need enough practice to keep your skills up and to evidence at appraisal, and if you stop NHS work altogether you can be removed from the performers list after twelve months, which changes your revalidation route.
What are practising privileges as a private GP?
Practising privileges are permission from an independent hospital or clinic for a doctor who is not its employee to see patients there, under its governance and usually its regulator registration. You need them only if you want to work that way; employed and sessional GPs, and GPs who run their own registered service, do not. To get them you apply to the provider with evidence of GMC registration, appraisal, indemnity, DBS and your scope of practice, and privileges are then reviewed regularly.
What are the ethical considerations when transitioning NHS patients to private care?
Be open about your financial interest, explain the NHS option fairly and give full costs before any private care starts, and never use NHS consultations, NHS premises or practice records to recruit private patients. If you work in an NHS practice, the contract also stops the practice charging its own registered patients for treatment. Patients who pay for some private care keep their full NHS entitlement.
What are the restrictions on seeing private patients in NHS practices?
An NHS GP practice (the GMS or PMS contractor) must not charge its own registered patients for any treatment or prescription, whether the treatment is part of the NHS contract or not, apart from a short list of exceptions such as certain travel vaccines and reports. It can see patients registered elsewhere privately, but only outside its contracted NHS hours and not in premises NHS England pays for. It also cannot advertise private services through the channels it uses for NHS services.
Professional Networks
4 guides
Does the BMA offer support to private GPs?
Yes, but mostly through published guidance, events and representation rather than tailored advice on running a private service. The BMA's private practice guidance is free to read, members get employment advice and contract checking, and its private practice committee includes GPs. Local medical committees represent NHS GPs and are funded through NHS arrangements, so their help for GPs working only privately is limited.
How do I keep in touch with my peers as a private GP?
Build your network on purpose, because private practice has no practice team, PCN or LMC to do it for you. The most useful links are practical: a buddy GP for cover, a small peer group for case discussion and learning, a mentor, and events run by the RCGP, BMA, IDF and special-interest societies. Set up your own safety alerts and regulator updates too, as they no longer arrive through an NHS inbox.
What are the benefits of joining professional associations for private GPs?
Professional associations give private GPs some of the support that NHS structures otherwise provide: guidance, education, advice, representation, peer contact and, in some cases, a designated body for revalidation. None is compulsory, and the right choice depends on whether you still do NHS work, which services you offer and what help you need. The GMC is the regulator, not an association you choose to join.
What is the IDF (Independent Doctors Federation)?
The Independent Doctors Federation (now branded IDrF) is a voluntary UK membership organisation for doctors in independent practice, including private GPs. It is a designated body for revalidation, so doctors who work privately can connect to it for appraisal and revalidation, and it also offers CQC advice, events and peer support. You do not have to join it to practise privately, and many GPs who keep NHS work or work for a larger provider will not need it.
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Guides on every part of running a private general practice, from regulation to growing your list.
