GP Surgeries and their staff are at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic, risking themselves daily in support of the community they serve. With enforced surgery closures and instructions to transition to telephone or video call triaging, the risks may have reduced yet the pressure is increasing. When it comes to communications, surgeries depend on…

GPs in one part of the UK have threatened to withdraw services amid continuing shortages of protective equipment, it has been reported. Practice staff in Northern Ireland are “scared and anxious,” one GP said – while the NHS struggled with shortages of full-sleeve gowns. Problems had been predicted over the weekend and yesterday Chris Hopson,…

Practices have been under pressure to identify at high speed the most vulnerable patients who need “shielding,” it has been reported. The latest deadline for reporting these patients was set, on Sunday, as 5pm today, the Health Service Journal reported. Shielded patients are meant to get regular contact from social services departments and NHS volunteers…

World War Z. 28 Days Later. Mad Max. They ALL got it wrong when it comes to the currency of the apocalypse. It won’t be weapons, food or Guzzolene that people kill for. It’ll be bog roll and packet pasta. But, practice manager, when this is all over (and it WILL be over), medical marketing…

For most GP practice staff, Easter 2020 is anything but a holiday, following confirmation by NHS England that Good Friday and Easter Monday would need to look ‘as close to normal working days as possible’. The instruction comes as Covid-19 demands are ‘anticipated to be at their highest so far in many areas’ this weekend. ‘We…

Practices in England have been ordered to operate as normal during this weekend’s two bank holidays – raising concerns about extra costs. The British Medical Association is already pressing for compensation for practices, using holiday time to continue to operate on the bank holidays. It has pointed out that the Scottish government has allocated about…

Practice staff continue to work with inadequate personal protective equipment – with some feeling “bullied” to stay at work, medical organisations warned today. As Prime Minister Boris Johnson was being treated in intensive care, the British Medical Association and the Doctors’ Association both released up-to-the-minute feedback from doctors about the state of the front-line. The…