GP Partnership Agreements

Looking for a solicitor to help with your NHS GP Practice Partnership Agreement?

If you run a GP practice as a partnership – and most do – then your partnership agreement is arguably the most important legal document your practice has. It sets out how the practice operates, how decisions are made, how money is divided, and what happens when a partner joins, retires or needs to be removed.

I’m Steven Mather, and I specialise in advising GP practices on their partnership agreements. Whether you need a new agreement drafted from scratch, an existing one updated, or you’re dealing with a situation where there’s no agreement in place at all, I can help.

Why every GP practice needs a partnership agreement

Here’s the problem. If your GP practice doesn’t have a partnership agreement, the default rules under the Partnership Act 1890 apply. That’s a piece of legislation written in the Victorian era, long before the NHS existed, and it says things like every partner gets an equal share of profits regardless of how much they work. It says any partner can dissolve the entire partnership at any time. It says no partner can be expelled, no matter what they’ve done.

That’s clearly not workable for a modern GP practice. You need a bespoke agreement that reflects how your practice actually runs – one that deals with the reality of NHS contracts, seniority, maternity leave, indemnity and all the other issues that are unique to general practice.

What should a GP partnership agreement cover?

Every GP partnership agreement I draft is tailored to the individual practice, but there are core areas that need to be addressed in every deed. These include:

• the identity of the partners and how new partners are admitted,
• the capital structure and what each partner is required to contribute,
• how decisions are made and what requires a unanimous vote versus a majority,
• property ownership and how the practice premises are held,
• each partner’s duties and time commitment to the practice,
• banking arrangements, finance and how the accounts are managed,
• indemnity provisions and who bears the cost of clinical negligence cover,
• holiday entitlement and how it’s managed across the partnership,
• car and expenses policies,
• maternity and paternity leave provisions that reflect NHS entitlements,
• the process for expelling a partner and the grounds on which this can happen (including so called “green socks” clauses)
• how outgoing partners are paid and over what period,
• restrictive covenants to protect the practice when a partner leaves,
• and confidentiality obligations both during and after the partnership.

That’s a lot of ground to cover, and it needs to be done properly. A generic template downloaded from the internet won’t cut it for a GP practice. Your agreement needs to work within the framework of your GMS or PMS contract, reflect NHS regulations, and deal with the specific dynamics of your particular partnership.

Drafting a new GP partnership agreement

If you’re setting up a new partnership, or your practice has been running without a formal agreement, I’ll work with you to put one in place. The process usually starts with a conversation about how the practice currently operates – who does what, how profits are shared, what the expectations are around working hours and on-call commitments. From there, I’ll draft a comprehensive partnership deed and circulate it for comment. We’ll go through it together, make any changes, and then get it signed.

I’ll also advise on the things that often get overlooked, like what happens to the GMS contract if the partnership dissolves, how property is dealt with if it’s owned by some but not all partners, and how you handle a partner who’s underperforming or causing problems.

Feel free to download my Partnership Agreement Checklist to start thinking about what terms will be required.

Updating an existing GP partnership agreement

If your practice already has a partnership agreement but it hasn’t been looked at for years, the chances are it’s out of date. NHS structures change, partners come and go, and the issues that matter today may not have existed when the deed was first drafted. I see plenty of agreements that still reference PCTs and CCGs, that don’t deal with PCN requirements, or that have no provision for parental leave.

I’ll review your existing agreement, flag the areas that need updating, and produce a revised deed that brings everything up to date. If there are contentious issues – like a partner who wants to change the profit-sharing arrangement – I’ll help navigate those conversations too.

When there’s no agreement in place

This is more common than you’d think. Practices that have been running for decades sometimes discover they’ve never actually had a formal partnership agreement, or the original was lost years ago. When that happens, the Partnership Act 1890 fills the gaps, and as I’ve explained, that’s rarely in anyone’s interest.

If your practice is in this position, the priority is getting an agreement in place as quickly as possible. I’ll work with the partners to understand the current arrangements and document them properly, so everyone knows where they stand.

How much does a GP partnership agreement cost?

I work on fixed fees, so you’ll know exactly what you’re paying before we start. The cost depends on the complexity of the practice – a two-partner surgery with straightforward arrangements will be less than a large multi-site practice with property issues and complex profit-sharing. As a guide, most GP partnership agreements fall in the range of £3,000 to £6,000 plus VAT, but I’ll give you a precise quote after our initial conversation.

Next steps

If your GP practice needs a partnership agreement drafted, reviewed or updated, give me a call on 0116 3667 900 or email me at steven@stevenmather.co.uk for a free, no-obligation chat. I work with GP practices across the UK and understand the unique legal and regulatory environment you operate in.