More than a quarter of GP practices in England have experienced a high turnover of doctors, according to major new analysis published today. This is a “wake-up call” about primary care, researchers said. Analysis by researchers at the University of Manchester found persistent high turnover – defined by more than 10% of GPs changed in…

Pharmacists are not the solution to the crisis in general practice, a leading GP has said. An All Party Parliamentary Group on Pharmacy has called for pharmacists to be given new powers and roles to help with NHS backlogs. The Royal College of GPs said that pharmacists should not be seen as “GPs on the…

A campaign has been launched in support of a GP trainee facing the deportation of her children following the tragic loss of her husband. Dr Nermine Mounir Riad Abdelazim was on the GP training scheme in North Staffordshire together with her late husband Dr Walid Mahmoud. Dr Mahmoud died from a sudden cardiac arrest earlier…

Staff face daily abuse in many practices across the UK, according to an alarming new survey. The survey of GPs found that 40% reported daily abuse against them or their staff. As many as 74% reported facing weekly abuse in their practice, according to the Pulse survey. 45% said that all their staff would experience…

Practice managers have joined doctors in expressing alarm at the Labour party’s proposals for general practice. The Institute of General Practice Management wrote this week to Labour leader Keir Starmer and his health spokesman Wes Street after Starmer spoke at the weekend about abolish GP partnerships and enabling patient self-referral to patients. Starmer’s account of…

Labour leader Keir Starmer unveiled his party’s latest proposals for general practice yesterday – amid bewilderment and criticism from doctors. Starmer repeated his party’s proposals to allow patients self-referral to specialists and to abolish GP partnerships. He cited as examples persistent back pain and “internal bleeding”. He said this would release GPs to focus on…

The drift towards hospitals taking over the running of GP practices has been reversed after two struggling practices were handed back to partnerships. The Abbey Meads Medical Group and Moredon Medical Centre in Swindon had been run by the Great Western Hospitals NHS Trust after being rated “inadequate” by the Care Quality Commission. The practices,…