Episode 16: Arfon Williams, General Practitioner in Rural Wales – “When Crisis is the Mother of Invention”

Around the world there has been a crisis shortage of rural doctors. How did Arfon completely transform his practice when he became the “last man standing” in his community of 4500 patients? At the time, the GP surgery was topping the charts for all the wrong reasons, such as being named as “most likely to fail in North Wales” by a senior Health Board member. Dr. Williams had a choice to either call it a day, risking bankruptcy and the jobs of his staff, or finding a new way to provide a safe, comprehensive service to patients. He chose the latter. In this episode, hear the story of Dr. Williams and his staff about how they are not just surviving but thriving, managing a practice that is now more efficient than it was prior to the crisis.

• The “turkey sandwich” in the practice, the “one phone call rule”
• Adapting and pivoting until you get to the right idea and components that are required to make it work
• The importance of getting all staff and patients also on board to continue moving forward
• Upskilling the staff for sustainability but also for growth, retention and increase in morale
• The importance of a true open door policy 
• The advantage for both patients and staff in building capacity
• Finding the genius in each of the staff and leveraging their gifts
• Necessity of freedom to try new things and having no stigma in recognizing what you are good at or stigma in needing to ask questions or not knowing
• Being humble, not being tribal and being brave to ask for help and living with risk
• The path to create a succession plan

Links:

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/out-here-its-just-me/2019/09/28/fa1df9b6-deef-11e9-be96-6adb81821e90_story.html 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/the-follow-up-appointment/2019/08/17/1be5ded6-b936-11e9-a091-6a96e67d9cce_story.html