I was shocked to read that reports of domestic abuse have risen by a staggering 20% globally during the coronavirus pandemic – it seems to be an undeclared pandemic in its own right. We’re all aware that domestic abuse goes on; it probably reaches almost every person in the country either directly or indirectly. If…

First of all, I should start this blog by announcing that actually I’m a real advocate of having a healthcare regulator, and having the CQC is a good thing. So, there it is… I’m now officially a social outcast and I await your abuse! Background to the Emergency Support Framework (ESF) It all started on…

Warning! It’s now time to reset the answerphone message from “I’m out of the office indefinitely” to a more welcoming and possibly more professional version. Why? Well, the CQC is coming to a telephone near you! No need for mass hysteria, but the brow does become slightly wrinkled when we ponder what our colleagues at…

“Great Scott!” How many times have we all said, “If I knew then what I know now…”? Well, if I could jump in my DeLorean and travel back just a few months, I’d certainly make a plan before I did so. My new-found business plan would include having a stash of downloaded lottery numbers and…

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) process can be a bit of a minefield in primary care as one wrong step and it could be game over. Challenges arise as the checks required vary dependent on the role. Ensuring you correctly complete all the regulatory stuff is vital, as we don’t want our practice to…

Since 12th March 2020, we’ve all become very aware of the government’s announcement that we’ve moved from the ‘contain’ phase into the ‘delay’ phase of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. But what does this mean for your practice, and how do we raise the quarantine flag to warn other seafarers if we become compromised? Another…

Remember Phil’s ‘Kung Flu Fighting’ blog two flu seasons ago? If only we knew then what we know now, maybe we’d have stockpiled even more toilet rolls as we fast approach meltdown in this new pandemic. This time it’s a cousin of Olly MERS, or is it Olly SARS, that’s causing the global stock markets…