Social media is exploding with 15.5 million adults in the UK using Twitter alone. There are lots of reasons why people like to engage with social media. It’s free, it’s instant and it gives power to the people through word-of-mouth networking. For surgeries this can mean harnessing the power of your patients to get the…

We’ve known for years that doctors in all branches of medicine experience high levels of a range of health problems, particularly psychological, psychiatric and addiction problems. We know also that doctors have generally been slow to seek and accept advice and treatment, for physical as well as psychological illness. Doctors have difficult jobs, and also…

Sacking someone is never a pleasant thing to have to do and can result in distress on both sides. Thankfully, I haven’t had many occasions to sack someone but I can think of two managers who were sacked – for theft – and one attempted dismissal of a manager for poor performance. What is the…

Continuing our look at CQC inspections and what makes a practice outstanding, the spotlight this time falls on Compass House Medical Centres in Brixham, Devon, who recently received an outstanding rating. The practice operates from two sites – one in Brixham and one in Galmpton – and it was the Brixham location that inspectors visited.…

A round up of the latest HR and Employment Law updates and related stories. EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL PROCEDURE – THE CLAIMANT’S RESPONSIBILITIES A recent case has illustrated the fact that the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) does expect claimants to take responsibility for adhering to the correct procedures when making claims to Employment Tribunals. The case of…

Professor Steven Field CBE Chief Inspector of General Practice Care Quality Commision Citygate Gallowgate NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE NE1 4PA 9th December 2015 An Open Letter to Professor Field CBE Dear Professor Field, I, along with many of my colleagues in Primary Care, am concerned regarding the proposed increase of fees paid to the Care Quality…

Managing repeated absence causes issues for most managers. Your working environment depends on having all of your employees working at their expected capacity and when one person is repeatedly missing it not only affects productivity and efficiency, it also builds up resentment in the remaining employees. (1) Triggers ACAS recommends setting up trigger points to…