GMSQP Reference Manual 

PC SCREEN

THE PC SCREEN 

(Practice Maintenance) 

The PC screens are used to maintain  core  GP Practice information, and to maintain 

Practice to GP relationships. In NHAIS System terms, the concept of a GP Partnership 

will already be familiar to users. A GP Practice is, in many ways, similar to a 

Partnership. However, these are different entities: 

A Partnership is a financial and legal entity. In the NHAIS System, a 

Partnership is identified by the code (and name) of the Senior Partner, 

together with a Partnership Start Date. When the composition of the 

Partnership changes (i.e. when a GP leaves or joins), the Partnership must be 

terminated and a new one formed. If the Senior Partner changes, then the 

corresponding Partnership Code and Name also changes. 

A GP Practice is a grouping of GPs and other Health Professionals. This is the 

administrative entity, and the one with which patients readily identify. The 

code and name of a GP Practice will normally remain the same, even though 

the personnel within the Practice may change. 

For a further discussion of the differences between GP Partnerships and Practices, see 

 GP Practices and GP Partnerships   Differences and Implications  at the end of this 

chapter (page 13 28 onwards). 

NOTE 

It is essential that you fully understand the difference between a GP Practice and 

a GP Partnership before you attempt to use the PC screens. If you have any 

doubts or uncertainties about this, please turn to page 13 28 where the difference 

is illustrated by an actual example.

Groups of Practices may be associated together to form a Primary Care Organisation 

(PCO) within a single Health Authority

1

. Practices may be associated with a PCO using 

the HG screens. For further information on PCOs, see Chapter 12.  

1

Note that the Welsh equivalent of a Primary Care Trust is a Local Health Group (or LHG). On 

systems run at Welsh HAs,  LHG  will appear in place of  PCT . The operation of the Welsh LHG 

screens is identical to that of the PCO screens described in this chapter.

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Version: 1.21 

Section 1   

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