Practice staff in the UK’s worst affected pandemic areas are likely to get regular COVID-19 testing, it was announced yesterday. The move came as Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the new three tier system – with Merseyside placed in the highest risk category and its pubs and restaurants closed. Large areas of the north and…

The NHS lost nearly 100 practices last year as experienced GPs continued to quit the profession, it has been revealed. The reduction in numbers was similar to previous years, bringing an end to increasing rates of closures, according to an investigation by Pulse magazine. The numbers reflect the retirement of senior GPs and difficulties in…

There’s a lot of traffic on the PI forum and Facebook groups lately about staff social events. Do we have them? Can we have them? If staff go ahead and meet up but don’t follow the government guidelines and then plaster it all over social media, can I do anything about it?! So I thought…

It would seem that we in the UK are in the midst of a paradigm shift when it comes to delivering primary care appointments. COVID-19 has demanded that technology plays a full part in the tackling of our patients’ diseases and ailments, and the traditional 10-minute face-to-face (F2F) consultation between clinician and patient at the…

This year’s flu vaccination season looks set to be the most important one in recent memory – and probably the most complex practice managers will have experienced. With the threat of a catastrophic second wave of Covid-19 infections hanging over the health service, ensuring as many people as possible receive the required vaccination is critical.…

From 1st August, it appears that all protections relating to shielding are being removed. No more statutory sick pay, no more food parcels, and it’s back to work. So, what do we need to do? No doubt we’ve had plenty of patients call us already, asking us to sign them off work or asking for…

GPs have taken on a significant amount of secondary care work during the pandemic – partly because hospital services were ill-equipped for remote working, according to a new survey. This includes performing blood tests for hospital out-patients and prescribing medication that would normally be prescribed in secondary care. Practices have also organised significant testing of…