It has been arguably some of the toughest few weeks general practice has ever known. The pressure of the delivery of the vaccination programme has been felt by teams up and down the country and our joint Ockham / Practice Index podcast regulars are no different. In this sixth instalment of our hugely popular practice manager panel posts, Nicola Davies, Robyn Clark and Ben are joined by Business Manager Amita Gokani to discuss their experiences of working at the forefront of the vaccination programme, so far. Each have faced their own challenges locally and are at different stages in the immunisation campaign and we have been fortunate to get their insights on how the first six weeks have gone for each of them; the highs, the lows and then what comes next.

 

Introductions (35 secs)

 

Robyn in the headlines (1 min)

 

The Institute of General Practice Management (IGPM) update (2 mins 47 secs)

 

The last 6 weeks in Nicola’s patch (3 mins 1 sec)

 

Dealing with local frustrations (3 mins 57 secs)

 

Amita’s recent experiences in Redbridge (5 mins 9 secs)

 

The impact of short notice, unannounced and cancelled deliveries (6 mins 49 secs)

 

Working through the cohorts versus potential for wastage (7 mins 30 secs)

 

Progress in Robyn’s area (8 mins 15 secs)

 

The potential for increased flexibility and where this has been limited (9 mins 3 secs)

 

What happened when the guidelines for administering the second dosage changed? (10 mins 57 secs)

 

The challenges presented by continually changing guidance and regulation (11 mins 42 secs)

 

Nicola’s view on these continuous changes (12 mins)

 

Managing staffing and rotas (14 mins 19 secs)

 

The limitations of running services on staffing good will (15 mins 45 secs)

 

The approach to care homes and housebound patients in Robyn’s area (17 mins 15 secs)

 

Anticipating the weeks ahead: Robyn and Amita (18 mins 9 secs)

 

All systems go for Nicola (19 mins 31 secs)

 

The Practice Index website can be found here

 

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