Talking General Practice

The GPonline team discusses the BMA ballot on collective action, which launches in June and what the general election could mean for that and general practice more widely. They talk about the Royal College of GPs call for an overhaul of GP funding so that it better addresses health inequalities and a wider report the college has produced on how to reverse the inverse care law. And they round up what went on at last week’s UK local medical committees conference.

Our good news story this week is about a scheme in London that has been prescribing fruit and veg to patients on low incomes and with long term conditions that has seen some really impressive results.

This episode was presented by GPonline editor Emma Bower, deputy editor Nick Bostock and senior news reporter Kimberley Hackett. It was produced by Czarina Deen.`

Useful links

GPonline’s general election coverage

DDRB uplift could leave practices £350m behind 2019 funding, warns GP leader

RCGP demands overhaul of 'all GP funding streams' to cut inequality

RCGP report Breaking the inverse care law

GPonline’s UK LMCs conference coverage

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This week Emma talks to Tara Humphrey, founder and CEO of THC Primary Care, which provides management support and training to primary care networks across England. Tara is also the host of the Business of Healthcare podcast.

Tara explains what makes a successful network, some of the challenges networks have to overcome and the positive side of the additional roles reimbursement scheme. She also talks about how the 2024/25 GP contract could affect PCNs, why financially secure GP practices are crucial to the success of networks and whether networks are here to stay.

This episode was presented by GPonline editor Emma Bower and produced by Czarina Deen.

Useful links

THC Primary Care

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In our regular news review the GPonline team looks at NHS England's plans to pilot new ways of working in general practice in a bid to ‘optimise the general practice operating model’ - and what this could all mean for the future. They also discuss what the BMA has suggested should be included in the next major overhaul of the GP contract.

They look ahead to next week’s UK conference of local medical committees and discuss some of the key motions up for debate and they talk about the state of GP premises after updated premises cost directions were published last week following many years of delay.

Our good news story this week is about an outreach project that’s taking health services out into deprived communities.

This episode was presented by GPonline editor Emma Bower, deputy editor Nick Bostock and senior news reporter Kimberley Hackett. It was produced by Czarina Deen.

Useful links

What do the Premises Costs Directions 2024 mean for practices? - on GP Business

Listen to the podcast episode where Emma and Nick talked about the Fuller stocktake when it was first published.

BMA sets out demands for 'new substantive GP contract'

How safe working limits for GPs should change to reflect complexity

LMCs to debate mass resignation and 'triple lock' linking GP contract to inflation

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Earlier this year the Royal College of GPs published a statement setting out a number of steps it said needed to be taken to ensure general practice was treated on a par with other branches of medicine. The college argued that a failure to recognise general practice’s role as the cornerstone of the NHS was driving underfunding and perpetuating the GP crisis.

This week Emma talks to the college’s vice chair for external affairs Dr Victoria Tzortziou Brown about how we can achieve parity of esteem for general practice and why it is so important that we do.

Victoria talks through some of the recommendations the college has made around tackling inequalities in training, education and research; why we need steps to limit workload in general practice; and the importance of greater representation of general practice in leadership roles both locally and nationally.

She also explains why the GMC’s specialist and GP register should be merged and discusses how the college hopes its strategy on achieving parity will develop in the coming months.

You can find the college’s statement on achieving parity for general practice here https://www.rcgp.org.uk/representing-you/policy-areas/parity-esteem

The article on GPonline about how the RCGP was founded is here https://www.gponline.com/nhs-70-founding-rcgp/article/1485054

This episode was presented by GPonline editor Emma Bower and produced by Czarina Deen.

Get in touch

If there is an issue or topic you would like us to cover on future episodes of Talking General Practice, please email us at [email protected]

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In our regular news review the GPonline team looks at what’s happened to the GP workforce over the course of the five year contract, in particular the number of GP partners. They also talk about the cost to the NHS of not retaining doctors following some BMA research and the government’s view of the workforce crisis.

They discuss the issue of drug shortages and how it is affecting GPs and patients and look at the government’s plans to tackle the ‘sick note culture’ that could see GPs lose their role signing fit notes and big changes to benefits for those with disabilities and long-term illness.

Our good news story this week is about a crowdfunder that’s raised money to support a popular local GP in her bid to keep her practice after it was put out to tender.

This episode was presented by GPonline editor Emma Bower, deputy editor Nick Bostock and senior news reporter Kimberley Hackett. It was produced by Czarina Deen.

Useful links

Which ICB areas are losing GP partners fastest?

General practice lost 2,900 partners as GP workforce shrank during five-year contract

GPs condemn 'ridiculous' practice underfunding as registrars fear unemployment

Leadsom claims there are '3,000 more GPs than in 2019'

Patients left without medication as record drug shortages hit GP prescribing

Constant NHS medicines shortages 'the new normal', report warns

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Emma speaks to Jake Beech, a policy fellow from the think tank the Health Foundation, about why we need to change the way we think about access in general practice.

Jake is involved with a research project that’s a partnership between the Health Foundation and THIS Institute looking at what access in general practice means. The project is developing a ‘candidacy framework’ that provides a series of interventions and ideas for improving access.

Jake explains why access is much more complex and nuanced than just thinking about supply and demand and how practices could use the candidacy framework to help understand their patients and develop solutions to suit their needs.

He also talks about the limitations with the national data on general practice appointments which are often used by policymakers to make decisions and why patient satisfaction with access is so low despite the fact that practices are delivering more appointments than ever before.

This episode was presented by GPonline editor Emma Bower. It was produced by Czarina Deen.

Useful links

Health Foundation report - Rethinking access to general practice: it’s not all about supply

Get all the latest news affecting general practice from our website GPonline.com

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This week the GPonline team talks about how untapped capacity among GP locums could help deliver hundreds of thousands of extra GP appointments every week, and what this all means in light of the current challenges sessional GPs are facing finding work.

They also discuss NHS England’s evidence to the Doctors and Dentists Review Body, which is due to make recommendations on whether GP funding should be increased further this year - as well as some of the steps practices are being forced to consider to cope with the tiny 1.9% funding increase they have currently been given.

There’s also news about a contract deal for GPs in Northern Ireland that could be agreed by the time this episode comes out, and they discuss NHS England’s decision to U-turn on funding cuts it was planning to make to NHS Practitioner Health - the specialist mental health service for doctors and NHS staff.

Our good news story this week is about a practice that has won a national small business award.

You can listen to the podcast interview with NHS Practitioner Health’s medical director Helen Garr here.

NHS Practitioner Health’s website is here.

Other useful links

Untapped locum capacity could deliver 250,000 extra GP appointments a week

GP workforce, funding and continuity all linked to higher life expectancy

Northern Ireland GPs near landmark deal to cover indemnity costs and abolish QOF

NHS evidence on GP pay 'completely out of date'

Practices weigh up cutting services, staff and partner drawings in coming year

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Emma speaks to Jacob Lant, the chief executive of National Voices, a coalition of more than 200 health and social care charities in England about what patients want from general practice and the NHS more widely..

In this conversation Jacob talks about why patient satisfaction has reached an all time low and what needs to happen to improve things.

He also explains how he would like to see the GP contract changed to give practices and PCNs more freedom to work in partnership with local communities to deliver the care people need, the importance of getting the basics right, in particular communication with patients, and how GPs and patients could make the case together for increased funding for general practice ahead of the general election.

He has some really useful and practical advice on what practices can do to work effectively with their patients to ensure they are meeting their needs. And he explains how compassionate GPs can transform experiences for individual patients.

This episode was presented by GPonline editor Emma Bower. It was produced by Czarina Deen.

Useful links

National Voices website

National Voices manifesto

RCGP manifesto

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This week Nick and Emma explain the results of the BMA’s referendum on the GP contract for England in 2024/25 and what happens next. And they talk about whether GPs will be prepared to take industrial action this year – and the types of action they might back – based on results from our own polling.

They also discuss whether general practice in England is shifting to a GP-lite model, as many GPs struggle to find work at the same time as £1.4bn of funding a year is pumped into the additional roles reimbursement scheme which provides funding for primary care networks to recruit other healthcare professionals. Nick talks through some of the data linked to this and what it all means.

Meanwhile, Emma talks about the latest news on a possible change in the law on assisted dying in Scotland, and they look at the results of the latest British Social Attitudes survey on what the public thinks about the NHS.

Our good news story this week is about the rollout of life-changing technology for patients with type 1 diabetes.

This episode was presented by GPonline editor Emma Bower and deputy editor Nick Bostock. It was produced by Czarina Deen.

Useful links

Which forms of industrial action would GPs be prepared to take?

Three quarters of GPs prepared to take industrial action, poll suggests

Is general practice in England moving to a 'GP-lite' model?

Bill that could legalise assisted dying in Scotland introduced

Listen to our special episode on assisted dying and what’s being proposed about how the law should change in Scotland here.

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This week Emma talks to GP Dr Lucy Henshall and healthcare consultant and former practice manager Penny Flack about their initiative Welcome Back to Work, which helps support GPs back into the workplace if they’ve had less than two years away.

In this conversation they explain how Welcome Back to Work helps GPs, the importance of tailoring support to individual doctors, and why we need a much more flexible approach to GP retention than is currently available.

They also talk about what GP practices can do to support GPs returning to work and those who may need more flexibility in the way that they work - and the benefits for both employers and doctors of doing this. And how they hope their approach could be scaled up to work across local healthcare systems – or even nationally – to help ensure experienced GPs are not lost to the NHS.

Lucy and Penny primarily work in Suffolk but they also work with GPs in other parts of the country as well.

This episode was presented by GPonline editor Emma Bower. It was produced by Czarina Deen

Useful links

Welcome Back to Work website

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