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…

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) process can be a bit of a minefield in primary care as one wrong step and it could be game over. Challenges arise as the checks required vary dependent on the role. Ensuring you correctly complete all the regulatory stuff is vital, as we don’t want our practice to…

“In 1950 the average list size was 2,500 patients. The average practice size in July 2018 was 8,279 patients, which suggests a partnership size of around four and a half whole-time equivalents” (c. 42 sessions). “The Medical Practices Committee approved entry to the Medical List according to need, where high list sizes justified extra doctors.”…

Management of staff is no easy task – especially in the pressured world of general practice – yet it’s something all practice managers need to deal with on an everyday basis. Go too far down the laissez-faire style of leadership and there’s potential for problems, just as is the case with micromanagement. Most practice managers…

In 2011 the compulsory retirement age of 65 was abolished in the UK, following the implementation of the Equality Act 2010. Age is listed as one of the ‘protected characteristics’ and it was deemed to be discriminatory to force a person to retire purely because they’d reached the age of 65. Nowadays employees can continue…

Developing the team: Physician Associate Success The idea of utilising physician associates to ease the chronic GP shortage has been floating around for a while now. It’s a topic we covered on the Practice Index blog in 2017 – you can find the article here – and there has been plenty of talk before and…

At a time when staff recruitment is probably harder than it has ever been, the need to retain staff – and keep those valuable assets fit and healthy at work – is more acute than ever. Whether staff departures are voluntary or involuntary, it can be problematic for practices due to the costs involved in…