Here is a brief recap on some of the most popular blog posts on the Practice Index blog in 2015 so far… CQC 10 ways to avoid an inadequate CQC rating Debunking the myths of CQC inspections CQC inspections: learning from the best Aim high with your CQC inspection Helping practice managers through the CQC…

Practice managers, as well as GPs, are being asked to share their views on new ‘comparison metrics’ for practices – and the quality indicators being planned by the Department of Health (DoH) for them. The survey has been launched by the Health Foundation, which was tasked with developing suitable comparison metrics to publish on the…

Leadership within a practice is one of the five mission critical areas the CQC asks about during its inspections. Falling fairly and squarely on the shoulders of GPs and practice managers, leadership can cover everything from staff mentoring to working closely with patient participation groups. It’s such a broad subject that it’s really hard to…

This week, a new £15m three-year scheme to fund, recruit and employ clinical pharmacists in GP surgeries was launched by NHS England. The initiative will see NHS England fund 60% of the cost of pharmacists to the practices for the first 12 months of employment, which will decrease to 40% for the second year and…

The Citizen’s Charter Complaints Task Force defines a complaint as an “expression of dissatisfaction requiring a response,” and sadly, complaints within a practice are inevitable from time to time. The CQC claimed in December last year that “there is much positive practice at all stages in the process of making a complaint”, but patients’ experiences with…

Burnout of all staff – not just GPs – is a real concern for practices up and down the country. An incredible four out of every ten GPs have taken or expect to take time off because of burnout as a result of increasing workloads and intense scrutiny, according to a survey by Pulse magazine.…

With the raft of changes to GP contracts set to come into force on 1st April, this week’s Practice Index blog looks at changes being made (and some that already have) to the Patient Participation Group Directed Enhanced Service. What’s happening to this initiative? Originally introduced to incentivise GP practices to establish patient participation groups (PPGs),…