Last year, Practice Index’s survey of practice manger workloads found that 97% feel they are overloaded. That, in turn, means the appointment of assistant practice managers is becoming far more commonplace in practices up and down the country. But how can APMs, as we’ll call them, be used most successfully and efficiently? And can they…

As you’ve probably read by now, this week saw the publication of the new GP contract for 2017/18. Reading through the publication, it appears there’s some good news tempered, of course, by some bad. The headlines are that GPs will receive a pay rise of approximately 1% and the unplanned admissions DES will be scrapped,…

Low morale in in healthcare once again hit the headlines this week after a General Medical Council report warned that the situation with doctors has reached the point where patients are being put at risk. The regulator said there was “a state of unease within the medical profession across the UK that risks affecting patients…

I am lucky enough to live in a very pretty little fishing village in Cornwall – fabulous for walking the dogs on the beach morning and night, but the downside is the huge number of tourists who slowly amble their way through the village (in the middle of the road I might add) because they…

Earlier this year the NHS announced it GP Forward View, a series of measures aimed at relieving the workload pressures on GP practices and primary care. Fast forward a few months and we are now seeing a number of the promised measures being turned into reality. One of those realities is the roll-out of the…

A paper commissioned by NHS employees earlier this year said training non-medical staff to do the work of doctors could be a ‘rapid solution’ to the practice workforce crisis. On the face of it freeing up trained – and expensive – clinical staff to focus on the work that only they can do, while getting admin…

By Nicola Hayward To say I am a tad vexed is an understatement! You may remember a little while ago I bleated on about CQC and the whole pointless exercise that includes printing off half the rainforest so that an inspector can read through what we’re doing (because we’re not trustworthy enough to do the…