Six months ago, a practice manager called me in tears. “Our Facebook page is awash with hateful comments from patients,” she said. I’m paraphrasing and deleting some of the expletives here. I looked. It was. Some comments were downright dreadful, despite the practice doing all the right things – i.e., posting regularly and giving updates…

I went for a face-to-face appointment at my GP surgery last week. Mask safely covering the huge zit that had developed on my chin – check. For once, though, I wasn’t there in an official or a work capacity, but as a patient. Yet, as I sat in the silent and sombre waiting room, my…

It will come as no surprise that over the past 14 months, there has been an exponential increase in the number of adults reporting signs of anxiety and in those accessing support for depression. Now, over a year into the pandemic, there’s finally hope on the horizon, and while many breathe a sigh of relief,…

Figures published today by NHS England highlight the acute problem of long delays for secondary care referrals. A problem that, once again, often falls on frontline GP practice care to deal with. According to the latest figures, nearly 225,000 people in England have waited over a year for routine hospital treatment. That’s the highest number…

The homeless are a group of people I have a particular passion to try and support. It may be that, being ex-military, I’ve come across a few of my brothers on the streets, or it could be that I can empathise with rough sleepers as I also know how bloomin’ cold it is to sleep…

I am a practice manager in a large, semi-rural medical practice in Lincolnshire. We have just shy of 20,000 patients and a magnificent team of 60 dedicated individuals who provide clinical and administrative support in keeping the wheels of our little part of the NHS landscape turning. We all work exceptionally hard in normal times…

Another stealthy letter has passed across my desk. I’d missed it among the never-ending torrent of paperwork and guidance. Somehow it only slipped into my consciousness today; clearly, I must have been asleep at the end of last week. Last day of the month and last thing on a Friday – really? I must start…