First impressions can be lasting impressions – especially when it comes to your waiting room. Yet, with a bit of thought, a small level of investment and a little effort, a welcoming and relaxing environment that pleases patients, staff and the dreaded inspectors can easily be created. Here are some top tips on how to achieve…

By Alan Moore There is no doubt that managing a GP practice has become far more “technical” that it ever was and I use that word deliberately, instead of “professional”, as practice managers have been professional since 2004 and the first New Contract.  We operate in a highly technical and very fast-moving setting, and if…

Much has been made – both within the primary care sector and by the media – about general practice. Extended opening times, the changing practice workforce, levels of care… but what do patients, arguably the people that matter the most, think about general practice? Practice Index interviewed a trio of patients of different ages and…

One of the things that most practice managers will agree is relatively unpleasant is conducting staff appraisals. To be effective they need to be open and honest, yet handled incorrectly they can be damaging to staff morale and the employee’s sense of worth. That’s why even the toughest receptionists quake at the thought of their…

By Michele Petrie “Having been at a Three Counties PM meeting last week it was very clear that a lot of PMs have no idea about MCPs and the implications for them and their practices. I summarised the BMA document for my Partners and thought it would be worth sharing here – it makes for interesting reading….…

By Nicola Hayward  A million years ago, when I first started putting my thoughts down on paper, I wrote an article about all of the abbreviations we meet every single day which seem to be heightened in the NHS. See I’ve started already! It was actually a set of instructions I’d received that had set…

By Robert Campbell In academic fields, the role of research is essential, and believe me having spent years writing articles and preparing lectures I have done plenty. But surprisingly these research skills are transferable to the role of GP Practice Management. The ability to research important, up to date information on current issues, concerns and…