More than 90% of the UK population use a mobile and over 60% use a smart phone according to Ofcom. Using digital communications means you can easily check the health status of patients for smoking and automate responses back into the patient’s record. You can give your patients greater access and choice allowing them to get the information…

One of the questions Practice Index was asked by a practice manager recently related to staffing numbers and whether or not there was a formula for the correct number of staff to patients. The honest answer is that there isn’t one, although we can look at statistical data to find out what the average staff:patient…

Coming up with interview questions that will really tell you something about your candidates can be more difficult than it seems. Save precious time by avoiding going over all the standard data and information most receptionist CVs will include, and make sure these prompts are on your list: they all invite your candidates to give…

With the raft of changes to GP contracts set to come into force on 1st April, this week’s Practice Index blog looks at changes being made (and some that already have) to the Patient Participation Group Directed Enhanced Service. What’s happening to this initiative? Originally introduced to incentivise GP practices to establish patient participation groups (PPGs),…

We will all be pleased to learn that NHS England have agreed that all practices will be entitled to reimbursement of the actual cost of GP locum cover for maternity / paternity / adoption leave.  However, NHS England refer to the actual cost as being £1,113.74 for the first two weeks and £1,734.18 thereafter, or…

Auto Enrolment is the result of a piece of Government legislation which became effective in 2012 and is still being rolled out. The purpose of the legislation is to ensure that that every employer auto enrols all ‘eligible jobholders’ into a Qualifying Workplace Pension Scheme (QWPS). This process is called Auto Enrolment. This will affect…

From 1st April 2015 the new employer contribution rates will be 14.3% for England and Wales, 16.3% for Northern Ireland and 14.9% for Scotland. Scotland will also have an employee contribution rate increase of 0.2%. As well as changing tier rates, there will be an introduction of a 2015 scheme for new members with existing members of the…