The UK has fewer GPs per person than at any time in the last 50 years, according to a stark analysis published today. The failure of GP numbers to keep up with population growth was highlighted by a second survey showing doctors working, on average, 11 hour days. The Nuffield Trust analysis found that there…

Home visits can be a daunting prospect for a locum team member. Providing them with a few extra little details about the patient they are visiting, can go a long way to helping the locum get the most out of their time, writes Dr Richard Fieldhouse. Home visits can be particularly challenging for GP locums,…

GPs will continue to play a vital role as a gatekeeper to the NHS and put their patients first despite questions being raised about their role in a new study, senior doctors say today. The Royal College of GPs, responding to a study published in the latest edition of the British Journal of General Practice,…

Document process management frees up GP time It’s well documented that general practice faces unprecedented challenges. As a result, probably more than at any other time in recent history, big changes are having to be made, causing plenty of headaches for clinicians and practice managers. Throw into the mix an evermore transparent world of reviews,…

We’re nearly two years on from the changes in the GMS contract which announced extra help to practices in the event of GP sickness absence. So, how’s it going? For some practices it’s working as intended.  Dr X is off sick for more than two weeks and, instead of the practice having to fund cover…

Some 20,000 GPs were thought to be working as locums in 2016 (National Association of Salaried GPs). In 2016, there were 41,985 GPs in England working in 7,613 practices. The number of salaried GPs has increased by 400% in the last decade (British Medical Association). There are thought to be some 20,000 GPs working as…

As GP practices battle to provide an adequate number of face-to-face appointments, I was wondering if other forms of consultation are on the increase. I spotted recently a notice in my local surgery which declared that almost one third of consultations in July had been carried out on the telephone. This amounted to a remarkable…