As the clock struck midnight, taking us into 2020, never would I have thought, as a practice manager, I’d be saying any of these phrases this year! “You can’t come into the surgery unless you’re wearing a mask.” “For the fourth time today, Teresa, the mask goes OVER your nose.” “Sally, stop baking cakes –…

Sometimes I feel like I must be Bobby Ewing from the 80s’ American soap opera ‘Dallas’. If you’re too young to remember, after a particularly bad few months, when during the storyline he’d actually died, the viewer was taken back to a scene in the shower where, thankfully, the last few months had all been…

I’ve turned into ‘that’ patient. The one who sits in the waiting room (remember those days?) and bumps into someone they know. “How are you?” the friend asks.  “Fine, thank you,” the patient replies.  “How are you?” the patients asks.  The friend replies, “Fine, thank you.” That’s what I’ve turned into, whenever someone asks me how I…

In March, I walked back into work feeling refreshed from my beautiful cruise around the coast of Egypt. The smell of sand and sea completely vanished when I set foot through the practice doors. It was replaced by the odour of hand sanitiser. Of course I’d already had contact with the staff during my time…

Are we ALL getting a little more intolerant? Or is it just those of us over-50s who are going through certain hormonal changes – menopause starts with the prefix ‘MEN’ for a reason you know! We’ve had more patients who are irritated with the service than ever before and I can’t see that improving to…

At the start of a new year, I always get a little reflective on the past year. What have I achieved? Could I do better? Definitely is the answer to that one! What should I have done that I didn’t? You know how it goes. I drove into work thinking about all the jobs that…

Dear Santa, No word of a lie, the entire team at our surgery have been REALLY good ALL year through. So good, in fact, that our patients are really happy with us (83.8% of patients describe their overall GP experience as ‘good’). So, it’s safe to say that we’re on your ‘nice list’ and definitely in…