Just over a year ago, I wrote the ‘Continuing to sail on the sea of CQC change’ blog, and 18 months earlier, I wrote the ‘CQC: Big changes are on the horizon’ blog. Today, we’re still at sea, sailing along, encountering change over every horizon. But could it be that the good ship ‘CQC’ is…

The NHS “is there to improve our health and wellbeing, supporting us to keep mentally and physically well, to get better when we are ill and, when we cannot fully recover, to stay as well as we can to the end of our lives” (NHS Constitution for England). Such a powerful statement and coupled with…

When a referee blows their whistle during a rugby match, the game stops, everyone looks towards the ref, the players listen to what’s being said, a discussion is had, then the game continues. Listening is key in this scenario as the players want to understand why the ref blew their whistle and what it means…

There are always lots of questions asked about mandatory training. What does mandatory training cover? Who needs to do what particular training? When do you need to do refresher training? Where is the training to be done? Maybe you’ve also been asked, “Why do I need to do it?” If you’re left thinking, “I can’t…

The Care Certificate isn’t a new concept, but what does it mean to you? Do you know how it applies to you and your practice? Have your Healthcare Assistants (HCAs) and Assistant Practitioners (APs) completed the Care Certificate? Did you know they had to (well, those employed since April 2015 have to)? Then there’s the…

Sadly, for some of our patients, access to general practice is a real problem, and it shouldn’t be. But why do some patient cohorts struggle with access? Well, there are multiple factors, and one factor that causes significant issues is the patient registration process. There’s a common myth about patient registration: that is, that patients…

‘Evening all’ (said in my best Dixon of Dock Green voice). You may be thinking I’ve gone slightly mad with a blog about poster police but do bear with me, it’ll be a useful read. We all know that we need to provide accessible information for our patients, be it information about the services on…