NHS England has taken over the running of a large group practice in Devon after the partners handed in their contract because of their inability to recruit doctors. The four doctors who were the former partners have continued working for Ocean Health as employees – but their contract reverted to NHS England this week. The…

More than 200 GP practices have closed in England in the last year, according to figures published today. In contrast just 8 new practices have opened. The closures have affected about half the country and have occurred in spite of an increasing population of practice patients. Numbers increased by 55,000 over 12 months, according to…

Up to 7,000 hours of practice staff time has been released through a project in one Lancashire borough, it has been claimed. Some 25 practices in Bury have taken part in the Productive General Practice project, backed by NHS England. The local clinical commissioning group says it has put in place more efficient processes, reduced…

Much continues to be said and written about staffing within GP practices. While the chronic GP shortage continues, practices are being encouraged to look to alternative staff ideas, including pharmacists and physician associates. The latter arguably has greater potential to ease workloads within practices and the NHS is to spend £15m on training 1,000 GP…

GPs have reacted in anger after a city increased the cost of their parking permits by five to ten times. Practices in Plymouth say the increase will cost them thousands of pounds at a time when they are hard-pressed. GPs and practice staff in the city had benefited from an essential worker permit, which cost…

A large Midlands GP partnership has extended its reach – into Berkshire, it has been reported. The Modality partnership, centred on Birmingham, now has practices in Hull and in Wokingham, Berkshire, the Health Service Journal reported. It now has 190,000 patients in 27 practices with 68 partners in total. Modality offers a number of specialist…

The normal waiting time for a patient to see a GP could reach three weeks within five years, it was claimed today. The analysis suggests that, without major changes, every GP will have to find another four hours a week to cope with demands from patients. The prediction is based on trends in patient demand…