With UK inflation running at almost 10%, and salary budgets for GP practices rising by nowhere near that amount, it’s reasonable to assume that household budgeting is getting noticeably harder for most staff. Even prior to this year’s sudden inflationary rises, more than one in five people in the UK were living in poverty. What…

You might be forgiven for thinking that COVID-19 and flu aren’t new news. You might also be forgiven for wondering why, as we embark on the flu campaign for this year, we’re only now receiving details of the plan of support put in place for practices and PCNs over the winter. The ICS Framework should,…

GP leaders have reacted with dismay to a Labour pledge that patients will get a choice of face to face appointments. The proposal would limit practice ability to use phone screening and consultations. Speaking to the Labour conference yesterday Labour shadow health secretary Wes Streeting confirmed he wanted to give patients a “wider range of…

Practices in Northern Ireland are to get a package of support worth more than £5 million, it has been announced. The cash includes a £1 million allocation for a scheme to attract doctors to areas with recruitment problems together with £3 million to help practices through winter pressures, health minister Robin Swann said. There is…

Practices are to be set demanding new targets to book all appointments within a fortnight of patient requests – in a move that doctors’ leaders warned may accelerate the exodus from general practice. The two week target for English practices is a centrepiece of announcements today by new Health Secretary Therese Coffey. The Department of…

General practice needs a radical new funding system and improved flexibility in rules around primary care networks, campaigners have said. The Doctors’ Association has set out a series of proposals in a letter to new Health Secretary Therese Coffey, calling for “huge investment” in general practice. The association says that up to 16 million people…

Europe is facing a crisis in its health workforce, driven by age and growing burnout rates, according to a major new investigation. Across Europe and Eurasia, 40% of doctors are already over the age of 55, the available data shows, according to the World Health Organization. WHO revealed its findings at its European conference, held…