Edwina Farrell

   Edwina has worked in both the private and public sectors as a real estate and partnership solicitor. She is ranked in the Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 directories as a medical partnership expert and is widely recognised as a specialist NHS GP adviser. She also has significant experience in working with emergency services clients and local authorities.  Edwina leads the Primary Care team at Weightmans and advises GP practices, individual partners, local medical committees and those who work with them. She has a broad experience in the way in which general practice and its finance operates and as such is able to bring a holistic approach to GP partnership business.  Her work includes partnership formation, retirement, mergers and other contractual arrangements such as partnership contract variations as well as some practice disputes. She has been involved with the primary care move towards the provision of a wider array of certain health services and the working at scale agenda and a variety of collaboration projects. This includes advising Local Medical Committees and their members in relation to Primary Care Networks and their relationship and transaction activity within the wider health space.  She has advised some CCGs on contracting matters where these are linked to partnership problems.  Edwina is widely known for negotiating robust and 'GP friendly' property transactions especially in connection with landlord and tenant matters. This includes significant experience 54 Act renewals and in LIFT transactions for GPs together with new development work and section 106 contributions.  She has a strong understanding of primary care service contracts and finance and the link to premises issues so that she is able to provide detailed advice and transactional support on a very wide range of issues and has supported many practices on premises matters during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Edwina has written many articles in medical practitioner press in relation to service charge issues for GPs. She has assisted GPs and LMCs nationally in relation to demands for unsubstantiated claims and provides training sessions and seminars in respect of partnership premises and core business. She is known as an effective public speaker, encouraging practices to understand the law as it relates to their business. She is regularly invited by LMCs to present to their members  She is described by clients as "approachable, supportive, knowledgeable and tenacious," and Chambers and Partners note that clients praise her ability to "provide timely responses and sensible advice in easy-to-understand language."  Edwina leads on NHS Trusts' Estate matters representing these clients on a variety of complex property matters and estates strategy and rationalisation in keeping with the government agenda for collaboration and working at scale. She oversees and manages work in relation to large property portfolios and property management generally. Having spent 14 years in local authority property teams, she is familiar with public sector processes.  In addition, she has worked on estates and joint venture projects for emergency services clients and supports the Weightmans emergency services team in this respect, undertaking a large level of landlord and tenant matters, as well as providing general property advice.  Edwina also worked with the government of Malta to assist in delivering a refurbishment programme to enable health service delivery across 3 sites in Malta and Gozo.  Listen to Edwina being interviewed on The General Practice Podcast  As an expert GP lawyer, Edwina is regularly asked for her opinion on issues affecting General Practitioners and GP business law. Here, she discusses the evolving nature of GP leases.