Surgery Inspections During an inspection, the question asked by the Care Quality Commission is “is it safe?” but when it comes to standards of accommodation, things have changed dramatically over the years. In the 1950s consulting rooms were cluttered but basically furnished with old-fashioned roll-top desks for the doctors. During the 1970s and 80s when…

In today’s internet age, customer reviews are everywhere. Book a holiday and you’ll find yourself scouting through traveller feedback on Trip Advisor. Head to download some music and you’ll be presented with a raft of user reviews. Go online to do some Christmas shopping and you’ll no doubt come across some kind of star rating…

The practice Christmas party should be a happy time. However, unfortunately it can all too easily turn into a nightmare. Just because the party is outside practice hours or held somewhere other than the practice premises doesn’t mean that the duties of the employer and employee cease to exist. Here are our top ten tips…

A round up of the latest HR and Employment Law updates and related stories. DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS – TREATING EMPLOYEES INCONSISTENTLY? The recent case of MBNA Ltd v Jones UKEAT/0120/15/MC shows whilst employers need to bear in mind that dismissal must be fair, they must also carefully consider the circumstances leading to an individual employee’s disciplinary…

Making the headlines recently was the suggestion made by RCGP Wales that the Welsh Government should merge practice nurse and district nurse roles to create generic ‘primary care nurse’ posts closely linked to surgeries. The RCGP Wales outgoing chair Dr Paul Myres argued that patients currently get ‘fragmented’ care, which lacks continuity, because they have…

Employer’s duties regarding relationships between colleagues We spend so much time at work that close personal relationships between colleagues is inevitable. To support this, USA has led the way in “consensual relationship agreements,” often referred to as a “Love Contract.” These are typically based around equality and sexual harassment policies and enable couples to “declare”…

A round up of the latest HR and Employment Law updates and related stories.  EMPLOYERS MUST CARRY OUT A “BALANCING EXERCISE” TO DEAL WITH LONG-TERM ABSENCE Dealing with long term absence remains a concern for employers as the recent case of Monmouthshire County Council -V- Harris [2015] UKEAT/0332/14/DA, illustrates. The Claimant (C), had been employed…