Blog

Conflict between colleagues in Primary Care

by Dr Clare Sieber, MMF Trainer and Mediator

We heard from Oscar Mathew in last month's blog about the effect conflict has on healthcare leaders and the additional burden they carry by virtue of being responsible for resolving it, as well as perhaps being blamed for causing it in the first place. But what happens when conflict directly involves someone who has the role of senior clinician, manager and business partner?

This month, I'd like to focus on a specific area of the healthcare system in the UK and how conflict manifests itself here; general practice.

In previous blogs, MMF colleagues have talked extensively about the types of conflict that we see in health care settings; conflict with patients and conflict between colleagues. In UK General Practice, GP surgeries are independent businesses, so the leaders - namely the GP partners and practice managers - have two additional types of colleague conflicts to contend with: conflict between the employer and employees (I.e. Employment disputes) and conflict between business partners.

It gets very complicated when the conflict is between business partners. They may co-own the premises, be named on a 25 year long lease with a rent of hundreds of thousands of pounds per annum, or be jointly responsible for a large loan. Equally they will jointly benefit from any profits that the practice makes; GP partners are not employees so they get 'paid' a profit share and don't have any employment rights. Sometimes the running of their partnership is governed by a legal agreement, but in many cases this is lacking.

The conflict may be the result of a simple personality clash, or perhaps a difference in working ethos, but all of these ‘business’ factors have to be borne in mind when reaching a solution. Sometimes however, it is these complicated business issues themselves that are the cause of the conflict. Therefore the nature of the mediations that we provide to GP partners are 'commercial' in their outcome, even if the subject matter of the conflict is very much an emotional, workplace-based one.

There are several serious consequences that can arise from these complex conflicts, not just related to colleague wellbeing and patient outcomes, but in many cases the GP partnership dissolves and hands back its NHS contract, to the detriment of patients. Nearly 500 GP practices have closed in the last ten years in the UK.

But there are some steps that can be taken to minimise the risk of this happening.

Email the MMF Team to find out how we can assist with matters of conflict in Primary Care or provide team training on the fundamentals of building better relationships with colleagues, creating a shared vision and a structured approach to moving forward in harmony