General Medical Defence Fund
The General Medical Services Defence Fund Ltd
The General Medical Services Defence Trust was established in 1948. Its purpose was to pay the expenses of the GPC and the Conference of Local Medical Committees from income, based on GPs’ voluntary contributions, collected by LMCs, and also to build a fighting fund for the profession in negotiations with the Government. Following advice from a leading tax counsel, the General Medical Defence Fund Limited was incorporated on 18th July 1980.
The main categories of expenditure by the GMSDF include:
- Honoraria and travel costs for GPs attending meetings of the GPC, which normally meets eleven times a year, plus its specialist sub-committees and working parties.
- Honoraria for GPC negotiators whose exacting work entails frequent absences from their practices.
- The two-day Annual Conference of Representatives of LMCs.
- Legal and professional fees in relation to matters affecting GPs’ terms and conditions of service.
- The costs of preparing the GP’s annual submission to the Doctors and Dentists Review Body (DDRB).
The Fund derives its income from two sources:
- Voluntary contributions from doctors collected through LMCs.
- Dividends and interest on investments.
Annual quotas from LMCs are calculated on the basis of the number of patients for whom the corresponding Health Authority is responsible for making payment. (Over the years, these quotas have risen in step with the increases in the average net remuneration made to General Practitioners by the DDRB).
The finances of the Defence Fund are managed with great care and control. Investments are under constant surveillance and scrutiny by the Directors of the Fund, the GPC and financial experts, to ensure that the best possible results are obtained.
