According to the most recent research from The King’s Fund, 72% of patients are satisfied with GP services – the highest satisfaction rating of any NHS service. While this is clearly a healthy figure, in these days of public feedback and online reviews, just one negative patient can severely dent a practice’s reputation – and be…

Dozens of practices have signed up to a project aimed at delivering joined up care on the basis of “promising” early signs, it was reported yesterday. Some 15 areas have been testing the Primary Care Home idea which seeks to create integrated care for practices with up to 50,000 patients between them and is backed…

Violence and abusive behaviour towards GPs and practice staff hit the headlines again this month when a GP in Water Eaton, Milton Keynes, spoke out about the daily abuse he and his staff are subjected to from patients. Talking to the Eastern Eye, Dr Muhammad Faisal from Water Eaton Health Centre outlined how patients have…

Patient records – and the inability of the NHS and its appointed contractors to handle them correctly – once again hit the headlines this week. This time, rather than Capita being in the firing line it was NHS Shared Business Services (SBS), who was employed in the East Midlands, South West and north-east London to…

New research into patient experiences in practices “hammers home” the need for more doctors and nurses, the Royal College of GPs has said. Research published in the British Journal of GP Practice into patient safety in family doctor surgeries has revealed that patient-reported experiences of safety problems and harm are “common but preventable.” The conclusions…

By Robert Campbell “Health Tourism costs the NHS in the region of £200 million pounds or 0.3% of the NHS budget each year.” The NHS’ rules about accepting and seeing patients, no matter what their place of origin or permanent residence, have become more relaxed over the years. In fact, NHS service providers don’t usually…

Paper or digital? When it comes to patient communication it’s a debate that’s often heard. What’s more effective? Which method offers better value? Which is least time consuming for practice staff? This topic was recently raised on the Practice Index Forum – where some excellent points of view were put forward. And, unsurprisingly, some practice…