Beyond the gatekeeper: building real partnerships with Practice Managers

Practice Managers run some of the most complex operations in the NHS, balancing workforce, compliance, patient access and contracts within a single role. As primary care moves further into the NHS's 10-Year Health Plan and community-based care, the practice manager's influence over which programmes gain traction is growing. Yet many industry teams still approach practice managers as a route to a clinician, rather than as a partner in their own right.

This webinar brings two working Practice Managers into direct conversation with CHASE, for pharma and medtech teams who want to engage primary care more effectively. It’s a conversation created for commercial, market access and field teams who want fewer wasted introductions and more productive meetings.

In this conversation, Ed and Edward will share their perspective on:

• What a Practice Manager actually does: the range of responsibilities behind the role, from workforce and compliance to contracts and reputation, and why no two practice managers carry exactly the same brief.
• Why the "appointment gatekeeper" approach fails: the mismatch between how industry often opens a conversation and what Practice Managers are motivated by.
• What Practice Managers are measured on: how CQC ratings, QOF targets and patient access pressures shape the priorities a practice manager brings to any conversation with industry.
• How to bring a proposal that lands: practical guidance on framing support so it reduces work for the practice rather than adding to it.
• Where the relationship goes from there: how a well-handled first conversation with a practice manager can open the door to clinicians and wider practice engagement.

Meet your speakers

Ed Kennedy, Managing Partner, Wickham Group Surgery

Ed Kennedy is Managing Partner at Wickham Group Surgery in Hampshire, where he leads a practice serving around 15,000 patients and 60 staff. He is also Director at the Institute of General Practice Management, where he champions the issues facing rural and dispensing practices, and co-founded the Wessex Dispensing Forum. Ed has worked in NHS practice management for over ten years and holds an MSc in Health Economics, Policy and Management from the London School of Economics. In this session, Ed brings a practice manager's perspective on what makes industry engagement work, and what causes it to fail.

Edward Rigby MBA MIGPM, Managing Partner, [PLACEHOLDER]

Edward Rigby MBA MIGPM is Managing Partner, and Regional Representative for Cheshire at the Institute of General Practice Management. He has worked in NHS primary care management since 2018, including a period with NHS Wales, and holds an MBA from the University of Chester. Edward is focused on reducing health inequalities in rural communities through neighbourhood-based primary care models. In this session, he shares his perspective on building sustainable, system-wide partnerships between primary care and industry.

(Host) Cat Metcalfe, Strategy and Insights Director, CHASE

Cat has 20 years of experience helping life sciences organisations understand and meet the needs of the NHS. She specialises in deep analysis of NHS policy, priorities, and the pain points faced by healthcare professionals and commissioners. Having worked extensively on patient-empowering programmes and medical education, Cat is passionate about finding collaborative, win-win solutions that benefit patients, the NHS, and its partners. She will host this panel conversation, drawing out the insights that matter most to industry teams engaging with primary care.