Chronology of The RCGP by Subject

Practice Organisation

Chronology Menu Page

Use Ctrl and F keys to search this page


1955
Appointment of panel of architects to give advice on surgery design.
 
1956
Equipment and premises sub-committee formed.
 
1957
Lease taken on 41 Cadogan Gardens, Sloane Square. Room set aside to display plans of practice premises and articles of practice equipment.
 
1957
Prototype Obstetric record card designed with 20,000 being produced. Clinical summary card discussed.
 
1958
Pilot survey of the records unit.
 
1962
Practice equipment and premises committee renamed practice organisation committee to reflect that its work "was concerned with the whole business of running a general practice efficiently".
 
1964
Exhibition on "Disposable equipment in general practice"
 
1965
Publication of "General practice today, its conditions, contents and satisfaction" under auspices of practice organisation committee.
 
3 June
1966
Symposium on "The architecture and organisational needs of general practice premises with emphasis on group practice".
 
1966
Survey of medical centres. "The advent of medical centres appears to have made it easier for general practitioners to make fuller use of their local hospital and its various departments.
 
1966
Recording systems working party – to consider the principles of record systems for medical care in relation to advances in data handling.
 
Nov 1966
 
Demonstration of car radio telephones at AGM.
 
1967
Publication of "Design guide for medical group practice centre".
 
1969
Group practice working party and conference
 
1969
Practice characteristics study
 
1969
The use of ancillaries study
 
1969
Publication of "The practice nurse"
 

1971

Joint Working Party [with DHSS et al] on the Redesign of Medical Records in General Practice - this working party recommended that A4 records be introduced but the government decided in 1975 that it was to expensive to make the change.

 

Feb 1973 Health Centre Entrants Course
1973
Study group on the organisation of general practice (Godber committee)
 
November
1973
 
Course on "The health centre project"
 
1974
Practice organisation report on "The function of the physiotherapist in the community"
 
1974
Practice organisation report on "Computer facilities and the practitioner"
 
1974
Practice organisation report on "The GP team and community hospitals"
 
1974
Practice organisation report on "The role of the health visitor"
 
1976
Research and practice organisation committee create liaison group on primary care.
 
1977
Separation of research from practice organisation committee and creation of research division executive
 
1977
Re-establishment of practice organisation committee
 
1978
Home visiting study
 
1978
Completion of Swansea joint RCGP/Department of Medical Sociology "Study of doctors and their staff"
 
1978
Computer working party
 
1980
Publication of "Doctors on the move" "This was written by John Bean and Clifford Floyd and described a radical new system of practice organisation in which doctors moved from room to room in a purpose-built surgery round the patients."
 
1980
Publication of "Computers in primary care"
 
March 11-15 1980  Computers in General Practice Symposisum and Exhibition
June 1983
 
Quality initiative "to improve standards of patient care in general practice". Each general practitioner should be able to describe his current work and should be able to say what services he provides for his patients and; each general practitioner should define specific objectives for the care of his patients and should measure the extent to which these objects are met. Each member of council agreed to select two aspects of his work in his own practice and to monitor the extent to which previously set targets are achieved.
 
1983
ICI Computer fellow.
 
1984
Information Technology Working party.
 
1984
Electronic Technology Department "to manage the College’s growing number of microcomputer installations; to act as a research centre for the evaluation of microcomputer equipment and programs for College and faculty offices; and to offer general practitioners and their staff an opportunity to gain practical experience of suitable office and surgery computer systems."
 
1985
Publication of "Trends in general practice computing"
 
1986 Information Folder on Practice Premises published
1987 Publication of Clinical Information Folder on Medical Records
1987 Management in Practice” Video produced by MSD for the College

1988

Publication of The Practice Library (part of the Staurt Librarian project)

 

1988

Publication of Practice Assessment and Quality of Care [occasional paper 39]

 

1988

Publication of Practice Activity Analysis

 

Dec 1988 Report of the Clinical & Research Division Working Party on “Weeding of Medical Records”

1989

Practice Nurses Task Force reports - this clarified the role and responsibilities in relation to education for practice nurses, and it identified practical ways in which the College might support practice nurses and their educational needs.

 

1989

Joint RCGP/MSD video "We need a Practice Manager"

 

1991 Publication of "Interprofessional Collaboration in Primary Health Care Organisations"  [Occasional Paper 52]
Sep 1991 “Stress in the Practice Team: Problems and Solutions” conference chaired by Ricahrd Maxwell

1992

Report to Council on twenty-four hour cover. It stated that primary medical care of patients should always be provided by trained and accredited general practitioners; that there was a distinction between between the responsibility for out-of-hours cover and the provision for it; practitioners should have the right to opt out of such cover, and the evaluation of alternative approaches should be carefully carried out, supported by official funding, and should take into account the views of patients.

 

1992

"Health Promotion Clinics - Current Practices in the North West Thames Region" - A Joint report from the Clinical and Research Division and the North and West Faculty of the Royal College  of General Practitioners

 

Sep 1992

 

Publication of "Balancing Dreams - The Manager in Practice" by Sally Irvine

 

Dec 1992

Publication of "Partnership with Patients - A Practical Guide to Starting a Patient Participation Group"

 

1995

Health and Safety at Work - Guidance for General Practitioners published [Practice Organisation series]

 

July 1996

Practice Organisation Series No. 2 "Medical Records In Practice" Edited by Bruce Lervy

 

26 November 1997
RCGP/HSE Workshop on Health and Safety at Work "Good Health is Good Practice"

Aug 1999

Policy statement "Clinical Records in Primary Care: Access and Confidentiality"

 

15 July 2003 Response to Shipman enquiry proposals for reforming death certification process

Sep 2003

Joint publication of third version of Guidelines for General Practice Electronic Patient Records [Department of Health, RCGP, GMS] 

 

Sep 2004 The Future of Access to General Practice-Based Primary Medical Care – Informing the Debate [RCGP/NHS Alliance]
5 May 2006

Response to National Audit Office report The Provision of Out of Hours Care in England

“The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) welcomes this report.  We feel that patients do need much clearer signposting telling them which out-of-hours services are available in their area and how to access them quickly and effectively.  Patients tell us that services are fragmented and they need much clearer signposting.  Although Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) are responsible for organising OOH care, GPs, who were previously responsible, have a lot of expertise in arranging good services for patients.  We would like to see more support for GPs in feeding into plans for OOH services in their area. 

“We understand from the report that the costs of OOH care in 2005-2006 are likely to be 22% higher than was originally calculated by PCTs.  We are not convinced that the higher costs are due to changes in GP pay.  The College feels that other factors such as efficiency need to be considered as it is clear that the costs have been underestimated.

“We would also like to see the Quality Requirements for OOH care enforced more efficiently, particularly where a service is delivered by a number of providers and also in relation to the training and accreditation of healthcare professionals other than GPs.  We feel very strongly that patients should have prompt access to a GP where clinically appropriate.   We would like to add that although PCTs are now responsible for provision of OOH services, training for GP Registrars in urgent care is still essential.”

 

30 June 2006

RCGP Statement on NHS Shared Care Record Service

The Royal College of GPs’ Ethics Committee recommends that patients should have the right to “opt in” – thereby providing explicit consent - to the sharing of their medical information on the NHS Care Record. However, we do feel that if adequate safeguards can be put in place, in time as the system becomes more secure and patients are more aware that their records will be shared, it may be possible to move to an “opt out” position.

The RCGP acknowledges the value of the shared medical record to help improve patient care and safety

 

Jan 2007 Publication of "Telephone Consultations in Primary Care : A Practical Guide" by Dr Tony Males
27 Nov 2007 Guidance to improve reporting abnormal test results out of hours [joint RCGP/ Royal College of Pathologists] 
March 2009 Publication of "Changing Partnerships" by Clare Gerada
July 2009 Improving access, responding to patients – a ‘how-to’ guide for practices’ published by the NHS GP Access programme. This was developed in collaboration with the Practice Management Network, which represented practice management from the following organisations;  British Medical Association, Royal College of General Practitioners, Family Doctors Association, AMSPAR, Institute for Healthcare Management, National Association of Primary Care and the NHS Alliance. 
Sep 2009 RCGP/BAMM – Joint Board for Medical Managers in Primary Care meeting – chaired by David Colin Thome

If you encounter a problem with this page please email the web team
© Royal College of General Practitioners
Registered Charity Number - 223106