Working at a GP Practice: A Guide for Practice Managers and Admin Staff

A quick clarification: LMC-listed jobs are GP practice jobs, not LMC jobs

A number of vacancies on boroughjobs come from Local Medical Committee (LMC) job boards, and it's worth being clear about what that means: an LMC is a representative body for GPs and practices in a given area - it doesn't itself employ practice staff. Individual GP practices post their own vacancies to their local LMC's job board because it reaches a relevant, local audience of people already interested in primary care work. So a "Practice Manager - via Avon LMC" listing is a real job working for that specific GP practice, not for the LMC itself. A genuine LMC-employed role (working for the committee itself, rather than a practice) is comparatively rare and would normally say so explicitly.

The main non-clinical roles at a GP practice

• Practice Manager. Runs the business side of the practice - staffing, finances, compliance (CQC requirements), and day-to-day operations. Usually the most senior non-clinical role, often reporting directly to the GP partners.
• Medical Receptionist / Patient Services Advisor. The first point of contact for patients - booking appointments, managing the phone lines, handling prescription requests. Often more demanding than a typical receptionist role, since staff are frequently the ones absorbing frustration from patients struggling to get an appointment.
• Care Navigator. A newer role in many practices - triaging patient queries to route them to the right service (a GP appointment, a pharmacist, a physiotherapist, or elsewhere), rather than defaulting everyone to a GP appointment. Requires some training but no clinical qualification.
• Medical Secretary. Handles typing of clinical letters, referrals, and correspondence - often requires familiarity with medical terminology, though not a clinical background.
• Administrator / Data Quality roles. Handling patient records, coding, and the administrative data that underpins a practice's funding and reporting.

What the application process typically looks like

GP practices are individual small-to-medium employers (unlike a hospital trust's centralised HR), so processes vary more than NHS trust roles - some use a simple CV and covering letter, others use NHS Jobs-style application forms even though they're not directly NHS-employed. It's worth reading the advert carefully rather than assuming a standard format. Interviews are usually with the Practice Manager and at least one GP partner, and for patient-facing roles, expect scenario questions about handling a distressed or frustrated patient - similar in spirit to the values-based approach covered in our NHS interview guide, even though GP practices sit outside the main NHS trust structure.

What's different from a hospital-based NHS role

GP practices are usually independent businesses (most are GP partnerships, not directly NHS-employed), which means smaller teams, closer relationships with colleagues, and often more variety in day-to-day tasks than a large hospital department. It also means terms, benefits, and progression structures can vary more between practices than they would across an NHS trust - it's reasonable to ask about this directly at interview rather than assuming NHS-wide terms apply.

Common mistakes

• Assuming every posting is a clinical role. The majority of GP practice vacancies are non-clinical, and most don't require a healthcare qualification.
• Not asking about the specific practice's systems. Practices use different clinical software (EMIS, SystmOne, and others) - if you have experience with a specific system, say so; if not, it's fine to ask what training is provided.
• Underestimating patient-facing admin roles. Reception and care navigation roles deal with real pressure and emotional situations - practices are increasingly looking for resilience and communication skill, not just administrative competence.

Browse current GP practice and primary care vacancies on boroughjobs.