Robert Campbell  This article was prepared after dealing with two vacancies for practice managers in two medium sized practices. “A Jack of All Trades” When applying to be a GP Practice Manager, a ‘Jack of All Trades’ is required. Your ability to delegate work to others will depend on the Practice size, the number of…

In October 2015, the Care Quality Commission placed a GP Practice into special measures for finding 1,200 clinical letters not actioned, amongst other things. The letters spanned a period of twelve months and although distributed to doctors, had not been read. It’s clear that unread letters and reports put a patient’s treatment and care at…

“Doctors say that the pressure on GPs in England and Wales is now so great that many feel they are failing patients and potentially providing unsafe care.” Extract from smart clinics web site. The BMA are concerned, according to media reports, that GPs have reached the stage where consultations are rushed and patients are now…

Part of a Practice Manager’s remit is to record Significant or Critical Events in order to encourage good practice and prevent such events from happening again. However, Significant and Critical are two separate things and one has to decide whether an event is approaching, or has reached a catastrophic or dangerous level. To illustrate the…

By Robert Campbell In a series of articles to help support new GP Practice Managers here is a tongue in cheek view of the first thirty-one days (or is it?). Peter’s Puzzle There is a  puzzled look on the face of new practice manager as he surveys the scene in his new office of paper…

Are you fastidious about keeping a tidy notice board? What information do you promote? Do you laminate the posters? Are the posters all the same size? Do you print posters in colour? Key Information The ‘key’ information that you ought to promote in your waiting room (or better still at the entrance to your surgery)…

Grading Systems There is no consistent approach to the grading of general practice staff posts. Despite the advent, from 2005 of the NHS Agenda for Change pay system some practices still use the old NHS Whitley Council grading system. The Whitley system though is probably around 10% lower than the Agenda system. And of course…