CHILDCARE VOUCHERS – WHAT HAPPENS DURING MATERNITY LEAVE? Childcare vouchers can be used for both pre-school and before/after-school care (nurseries, child-minders, school out-of-hours clubs) which has been approved/regulated (for example registered with Ofsted in England). They are intended to be used to help primary care-givers return to work and achieve a better family/work balance. Employers…

A course that aims to provide GPs and practice managers with top-level business and management skills has been launched in Manchester. All ten GPs who are board members of the Manchester Primary Care Partnership and nine primary healthcare managers, have begun a 12-month board development programme that will lead to a certificate in strategic leadership…

Practices are to get a 1% increase in earnings and small reductions in red tape as part of their contract deal for next year, it has been announced. There will be also improved compensation for costs, including a 28% increase in vaccination fees, the British Medical Association said. The contract deal is worth an extra…

Do your patients get the right message when they visit your website? Does the information on your Home page help rather than hinder? What is the difference between practice news, a newsletter and an important announcement? Read on for some simple, non-technical advice on making your website make sense.. Keep a tidy Home page There…

Solving the crisis in general practice is crucial to make the NHS sustainable, two senior GPs warn today. “If general practice fails, the whole NHS fails,” according to Sir Sam Everington and Professor Martin Roland, writing in The BMJ. Their warning comes the day after an international survey found that British GPs are the most…

In the latest round of CQC inspections, the number of practices up and down the country receiving an outstanding rating reached the 114 mark. That’s not too many given over 3,000 practices have been inspected, so what made the last three practices to receive the top rating really stand out? A caring practice Several areas…

DISMISSAL FOR EXAGGERATING SICKNESS AND USING COVERT SURVEILLANCE The recent case of Metroline West Ltd v Ajaj UKEAT/0185/15/RN considered whether dismissing an employee could be unfair, despite the fact that the employee had exaggerated their sickness. The Claimant, Mr Ajaj, a bus driver, was injured in February 2014 as a result of slipping on water…