Is your practice well-led? The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has recently published more of its popular mythbuster fact sheets. The latest round of mythbusting notes, written by Nigel Sparrow, Senior National GP Advisor and Responsible Officer at the CQC, aim to share the facts about such diverse topics as GP locums, consent for minor surgery…

First impressions really do count – especially it seems when it comes to CQC inspections. Many successful practices say that their opening 30-minute presentation to inspectors really paved the way for success, providing a great opportunity to set the scene and highlight the strengths of the practice. After an introductory session, the CQC will invite…

The NHS especially like to have an acronym for everything! A practice manager has a lot of abbreviations and acronyms to remember in his/her day to day running of the practice, especially when talking to GPs. Please feel free to add to the list. A ACAS – Advisory, Conciliation and Advisory Service:  organisation devoted to preventing and…

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…

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),…