The arrival of a new baby is undoubtedly amazing, but it’s also stressful, overwhelming and changes the parents’ lives in every way. Of course, there are also sleepless nights to contend with and a great deal of worry about caring for this new little person. Nothing really prepares you for the experience! Bearing in mind…

Another change is coming, another testing time for general practice. By April 2020, patients are to be given online access to their complete health care records – that’s seven months from now! Whilst in the first instance this will undoubtedly increase the pressure across the sector and create additional workload for practice teams, could it…

It has been announced recently that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has revoked the UK’s status as being “free from measles” following a rising number of reported cases and a decline in the number of children receiving the Mumps, Measles and Rubella vaccination (MMR)* Although the virus was previously eliminated in 2016, there has been…

A recent poll on the forum showed just 24% of practice managers were friends with staff members on social media. Social media has its positive and negative sides. It can be a great way to keep in touch with people and share multimedia, it can be brilliant for promoting your business or brand, and it…

Every day 300 babies are admitted to neonatal care – that’s roughly one in seven babies born in the UK. These babies can be born prematurely (born before 37 weeks) or can be born at term but unwell. The duration of a baby’s stay in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) varies greatly and is…

The average patient list per doctor is said to be in the region of 1,800 patients. However, my experience of working in a registration department suggests that around 600 patients may have moved on, unknown to the practice, or be in the process of registering elsewhere. The NHS income from 600 patients is significant so…

One thing the health sector in the UK loves is a good survey and project pilot. There seems to be an endless stream of studies highlighting the good and bad of the NHS and healthcare delivery – and one common topic for these is the use of telephone consultations. It’s also a topic being discussed…