Practices are cancelling and refusing non-urgent appointments this week as the NHS is hit by the “most disruptive” strike ever. Trainee GPs are taking part in the action which is expected to see some hospitals struggling to maintain emergency services. NHS organisations in England were reported to be taking unprecedented measures to keep critical services…

GP leaders have given a mixed welcome to a major Government commissioned review of the primary care system. Former Labour minister Patricia Hewitt has called for a reduction in targets and more flexibility for practices together with a total rethink of GP contracts. She said the NHS should focus more on outcomes rather than targets…

Practices in Scotland are all vulnerable, a leading GP has warned after the collapse of one of the largest because of doctor shortages. Inverurie Medical Practice currently has more than 25,000 patients but is to return its contract in September because it does not believe it can recruit adequate numbers of doctors, it has been…

Practices are struggling to deliver same day appointments, according to new data which shows GPs seeing increasing numbers of patients in person. In February practices delivered 27.3 million appointments compared with 25.4 million a year earlier, according to new NHS England data. Practice leaders said the data showed the continuing pressure on general practice –…

The imposition of the 2023/24 contract onto general practice leaves practices in an extremely difficult position. Do they accept the imposed terms and find ways of reducing their cost base to manage the reduction in income, or do they take industrial action in an attempt to improve the terms of the contract? This is something…

Author –Aimee Linfield (she/her)– Pride in Practice Manager, LGBT Foundation Trans and non-binary people are more visible today than perhaps at any other time. Musicians like Sam Smith and Kim Petras are recording number-one singles, Yasmin Finney is the new Doctor Who companion, and Elliot Page is a role model for trans masculine people all…

A promised “recovery” plan for general practice is likely to contain aspects of the controversial new contract imposed on the profession this year, it has been revealed. A key component of the plan will be improving “access to GP appointments”, NHS England chief strategy officer Chris Hopson said yesterday. This will include the introduction of…