It was distressing to hear about the practice in East Manchester that suffered a physical attack recently. All our thoughts are with the staff of that particular practice. It will be tough to recover from an experience like that, and our hearts go out to them. The worry for everyone is that this isn’t an…

The government was under growing pressure today to designate special fuel stations for key health workers – after most garages ran dry yesterday. One county council, Surrey, says it may declare an emergency and take its own steps to provide dedicated services for key workers. It came as reports grew of doctors and other staff…

Practices have been promised a new drive to cut red tape to help resolve the growing pressure for improved patient access to appointments. The promise proved a point of agreement between health secretary Sajid Javid and GP leaders after they met at the end of last week. The meeting followed a week during which the…

Social prescribing is unlikely to reduce health inequalities, according to a study published today. Researchers in Scotland completed a two-year evaluation of the Deep End Links Worker Programme (LWP), which was set up as part of a key health policy in primary care practices to reduce health inequalities. The Scottish Government is promoting social prescribing…

GP leaders have called on the government to step into defend practices after four staff were injured in an incident in Manchester. The British Medical Association warned of a “terrible trend of growing abuse, vitriol and violence” directed towards GPs and their staff. The incident came as the BMA announced it had achieved 10,000 signatures…

Health secretary Sajid Javid is facing double anger from doctors after threatening new steps to require practices to increase face to face appointments. The Royal College of GPs accused him of failing to tackle a chronic shortage of GPs while the British Medical Association accused him of being “far removed from reality.”The BMA was also…

The British government is set to press on with additional COVID-19 vaccination today in spite of experts questioning the benefits of booster campaigns. Yesterday the government decided to offer vaccines to children aged 12 to 15 while today it is expected to announce a booster campaign for over-50s. The Lancet yesterday published an expert review…