Christmas lights are coming down, it’s cold outside, the dark months are upon us and the world has a killer pandemic on the rampage, how much worse can it get? Bad news… January and February are going to be some of the toughest months for the NHS in a long, long time. The perfect storm,…

Have you ever wondered what those four letters mean and the importance surrounding them? ‘Discussing Stupid Questions and Suggestions’? No, for once this doesn’t relate to PCSE! I have to admit to not remembering whether these letters were even uttered at my practice manager interview but then I have been a PM for a while,…

The CQC has and continues to go through a period of change; there’s the ARR, ESF, TRA and now TMA, giving a plethora of TLAs. IMO it’s little wonder that a lot of people may be thinking OMG, IDK what you’re on about. MMW, you’re not alone! Right, enough of the three-letter abbreviations (TLAs); it’s…

It’s my appraisal tomorrow. As usual I’ve left everything until the last minute. And as usual one of the items on my “I must do better next year” list is “filling in my training and reflections throughout the year”. This year has been… a challenge… and there’s more and worse to come. I often get…

For the multi-faceted, multi-tasking, multi-skilled practice manager, life as a practice manager is something of a rollercoaster ride. One minute you’ll be dealing with the finances, the next preparing for the latest round of appraisals or getting your team ready for the next CQC inspection. Then, just when you think you’re on top of everything,…

There have been many comments recently regarding staff development, particularly about mandatory training, retake periods and who needs to do what training. Well, the ball lies in your court (to a certain extent) as Nigel’s surgery 70 states: “CQC does not have a list of mandatory training for members of the GP practice team”. You…

I’ve been looking at my Practice Manager Handover Manual again, having found an example of a practice that’s been going through a succession of managers and three GP retirements in the space of 12 months. I learnt that while there may have been a handover of sorts, the quality of the handovers left much to…