We've noticed your using a old browser this may cause issuse when experincing our site. We recommend updating your browser here this provides the latest browsers for you to download. This just makes sure your experince our website and all others websites in the best possible way. Close

Author Archives | Mat Phillips

Mat Phillips

Mat Phillips is the Policies and Compliance Manager for Practice Index. He is a clinical governance specialist, facilitator and trainer. Mat has enjoyed a primary care career spanning 30+ years within the NHS, in the UK Oil and Gas Industry and Royal Navy.

Should animals be permitted in your GP practice?

animals in your practice

Consider this tricky scenario: Tom, a local moggy, is a regular and persistent visitor to your practice, but he isn’t owned by your team. He’s fed regularly and is much loved. Some patients even say that having Tom in the surgery is “great” and “lovely therapy” for them. However, one day, a young child is…

Read More

Why is business continuity important?

Business continuity plan in a blue folder.

While putting together this blog, I came across a group called The Business Continuity Institute, and they define business continuity as “Having a plan to deal with difficult situations, so your organisation can continue to function with as little disruption as possible”. It is a requirement for primary care to have business continuity arrangements in…

Read More

What vaccines can your HCA undertake?

what vaccinations can HCAs carry out

The Clinical Guidance Document – Patient Immunisation has just been updated and there’s a question that often gets asked as there’s so much conflicting information in it – that is, what vaccines can an HCA or HCSW (Healthcare Support Worker) actually undertake? Background Firstly, I must point out that there’s little guidance on this from the…

Read More

The ever-growing medicine cabinet

Pulse Oximeter, finger digital device to measure oxygen saturation in blood. Reduced oxygenation is an emergency sign of pneumonia, for instance caused by coronavirus. Device on Caucasian female hand.

It wasn’t too many years ago that the humble medicine cabinet simply contained some plasters and aspirin. Nowadays, it seems to be bulging at the seams with all kinds of tablets and a variety of home diagnostic equipment. During the pandemic, we all know it became harder to see a clinician. So, many a household…

Read More

Scottish practice support

Flag of Scotland

Generally, practice managers who work in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland need to give policies a little more tweaking to make them relevant to their practices. This is because the majority of the reference material that’s available, familiar and therefore used migrates the policy towards NHS England or the English regulator, the CQC. As such,…

Read More

A new guide to reception activity

Reception manager handbook

As a busy practice manager, how many times a day do members of the admin team ask you questions that start with: ‘Have you got a minute to…’, or ‘Can you just…’, or ‘How do we do…’? If this sounds all too familiar, then the Practice Index policy team may just be able to reduce…

Read More

All things governance

Governance handbook

We have created a new Governance Handbook [PLUS]. Like the others in the series, this is a useful, encyclopedic-type document. Split into the four major topics of governance within general practice; Clinical, Corporate, Financial and Information, the handbook covers the full spectrum of governance-related topics with hundreds of useful links that take the reader to…

Read More
Get in the know!
newsletterpopup close icon
practice index weekly

Subscribe to the Weekly, our free email newsletter.

Keeping you updated and connected.