Wessex Local Medical Committees Ltd is the umbrella organisation supporting the three Local Medical Committees (LMCs), covering all GPs and their Practices, operating across the counties of Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Bath & North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire. We also provide services to general practice on the Islands of Jersey and Guernsey.
Local Medical Committees are recognised by statute (NHS Act 2006, as amended by the Health and Social Care Act 2012) as the bodies representing all NHS GPs practising in a stated geographical area. An LMC represents all NHS GPs in its area, regardless of contractual status. It represents the views of its GPs to other local agencies, bodies, and health providers in its locality.
We represent, in total, around 300 Practices and 3000 GPs, whether Partners, Salaried GPs, or freelance locums. We exist solely to represent, advise, and support GPs and their Practices.
The Local Medical Committees we represent are:
Each Committee is elected by the GP constituents it covers and is entirely independent. These LMCs have formed a Board comprising the elected Chairman and Vice-Chairman of each LMC. This Board employs Joint Chief Executives of Wessex LMCs, Dr Laura Edwards and Dr Andy Purbrick, and through them, a Directorate and Administrative Team, and together they run the Chandler’s Ford office
All LMCS are funded by a statutory levy which is collected from Practices, and is based on the number of patients registered at that Practice. The amount is set by the Board and reviewed annually. It funds the office and Officers of the LMC, as well as the individual Committees. The Wessex LMC staff supports each LMC separately, and this pooling of resources and expertise allows great economy of scale, ensuring each LMC gets much more for its money than everyone having its own office and staff.
