The management of General Practice in the UK has been cited by the Department of Health (DoH) as a crucial element in the delivery of the NHS Plan in general and the new GP contract (GMS) in particular. However, Practice Managers are an isolated and dispersed network of managers, who are not directly employed by the NHS. Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) need to facilitate work across and within General Practice in order to succeed in delivering many NHS targets, and are thus dependant upon a good working relationship with and between Practice Managers. This papers shares a case study from Central Manchester Primary Care Trust and the University of Manchester. A research based programme of intervention, including a development programme, action-learning, practice-based projects and facilitated networking was delivered to encourage a culture of sharing, learning together, collaboration, support, problem solving and best-practice, in preparation for NHS changes. This case study will be of relevance to people with an interest in developing learning organisation practices and principles across diverse networks of staff or managers.

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Keywords

• organisational learning
• NHS
• GMS
• Practice management
• Networks

(Virtual Presentation, English)