My name is Jo Verrill (previosly Jo Hunt), I am a Research Associate at
the Centre for Health Studies , Durham University. John Newton (
University of Northumbria) and I have been working on a study of Human
Resource Management in Primary Care for the last three years. We have
published our work in the BJGP, Employee Relations (forthcoming) and
Practice Manager journals. I am also working towards a PHD in this area,
looking at management in primary care at a more general level, including
the developmnt of the practice managers role and GP's involvement in
management.

I have conducted a national interview survey of GP's and Practice
Managers. Owing to GP workload I have been unable to interview as many
GP's as I would have liked. I would be very grateful to members of the
list if they would let me have their views on one or two of my key
questions.  Obviously this cannot be as comprehensive as an interview but
all comments , no matter how brief would be very welcome. It would also be
very helpful if you could let me know how many partners are in your
practice and if you are fund holding.  Your comments will contribute to my
ongoing analysis and will be strictly anonymous (ie. no person will be
identified in any report). You are welcome to mail your comments direct to
me if you would prefer, however I think it would probably be a subject of
general interest to the group.  Thank you very much indeed for taking the
ttime to read this, I hope you find the time to respond. The questions
are:

What are the key skills required of the practice manager in your practice?
have these changed?

What are the main functions of your practice manager? Have these changed?

In your opinion, does the sex of a practice manager make any difference to
the way in which they do their job?

Do you need an NHS/general practice background to be a good practice
manager?

How are the partners involved in management? Has this changed?



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