GP patient records are no longer kept on practice-based servers and whilst the original records folders are still held locally they are rarely referred to and their future is in doubt.  But even though records by law have to be kept for a specific time, the use of computer records means paper copies, like clinical…

For a Practice Manager handling complaints can be a difficult challenge. No one likes to receive a complaint but complaints need to be dealt with professionally, promptly and properly. But as a Practice Manager you may not be in total control of the investigation! You may be faced with a difficult patient and find that…

Practice managers work in primary care, and they manage the overall running of GP surgeries. Practice administrators are responsible for various medical administrative duties such as registering patients, booking appointments and ensuring that all the information is stored correctly and filed accordingly. How ‘in charge’ are you? In a medical practice, the doctors who own the practice select…

The NHS scheme was brought into the UK almost 70 years ago – a lifeline for people at the time suffering post-war austerity. Family doctors were known for their independence in the profession; and at that time the NHS was hotly debated in the political world, just like the Government plan to make doctors work seven…

I have always been the kind of person any boss would be pleased to employ – hard-working, uncomplaining and loyal.  I could always be relied on to accept those last-minute, ‘urgent’ jobs when everyone else had skedaddled off home even though they often took me extra hours or even days to complete and many times…

With individual GP practices allowed to manage their own recruitment, there is no overall strategy for managing succession planning within general practice. NHS England has little influence on the appointment of doctors, and the pool of available GPs to take on permanent positions is dwindling, as some GPs choose to work as locums or for…

When I started work in the NHS I was 16 years old and my take home pay was £23. I couldn’t join the NHS pension scheme until I was 18 when my pay would increase annually until I was 21. I began on the Clerical grade and over the next 25 years I would progress…