British GPs have been slow to offer on-line consultations, researchers say today. Their findings were rejected by senior doctors, who say that practices are right to be cautious about introducing them. According to academics from five different British universities, practices should be offering new technologies “as soon as possible.” They have even set up a…

(Time to read: 7 minutes) GP practices are complicated beasts these days. So many different services are being delivered by an increasingly wide range of practitioners, supported by a diverse range of additional offerings provided by external care providers. Throw into the mix the increasing choice of tech-based access and appointment delivery methods, the increasing…

Some GPs say they are undertaking 100 consultations a day – while the average doctor undertakes 41 a day, according to a survey published today. Senior GPs said the findings understated the pressures on primary care – as patients are also presenting with increasingly complex conditions. Some 20% of GPs reported undertaking more than 50…

People who miss practice appointments regularly are often highly vulnerable, according to a major analysis published today. The findings reopened the debate on how to deal with people who fail to turn up for appointments. It has been suggested that fines might deter this. In the largest survey yet to be undertaken on missed appointments,…

Most practices know and appreciate the benefits of inclusion and have now adopted the principles behind the Equality Act so that they are complying with their obligations as employers. However, we should ask ourselves, is compliance enough or could and should we be doing more?

There has been much discussion recently on Practice Index about patient lists. Some people have been talking about list closures, others about deleting ‘ghost’ patients. However, one question we received – about the turnover of patients on a practice’s list – really made us think – and try to find some answers about what level…

As we’ve discussed before on the Practice Index Blog, GP practices are increasingly having to think like businesses. That means focusing on return on investment, cutting costs and, crucially, looking for additional income streams. Revenue generation comes in many forms – but it’s only effective if you get paid for it – which brings us nicely…