Throughout August we’re showcasing some of the best interviews from series one of the podcast.

This week Emma is talking to GP and menopause expert Dr Louise Newson, in an interview that was recorded in September 2021.

Louise discusses how we can improve menopause care and education for doctors and other health professionals. She also explains how her career led her to becoming one of the UK’s most recognisable experts on the menopause and the new charity - The Menopause Charity - which she launched in 2021.

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

Series 3 of Talking General Practice begins on 9 September.

Useful links

Confidence in the Menopause (free training for healthcare professionals)

The Menopause Charity

Practical advice for GPs on prescribing HRT - an article by Dr Louise Newson and Dr Olivia Jones on GPonline

Our sister site MIMS Learning has the following learning modules on the menopause:

●     Genitourinary syndrome of menopause

●     NICE guidelines on the menopause - by Dr Louise Newson and Dr Rebecca Lewis

●     Menopause and migraine - by Dr Louise Newson

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Throughout August we’re bringing you some of the best interviews from series one of the podcast.

This week, Emma is talking to GP Dr Amy Small about living with long COVID in an interview that was recorded in November 2021.

Amy caught Covid right at the start of the pandemic in March 2020 and went on to develop long COVID. In this conversation she explains how long COVID has affected her life, her family, and her job as a GP - and what she thinks needs to be done to improve services and support for other people affected by the condition.

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

Series 3 of Talking General Practice begins on 9 September.

Useful links

How widespread is long COVID in the UK?

Our sister site MIMS Learning has the following learning resources on long COVID

●     Long COVID - tips for primary care - an on-demand webinar

●     Long COVID and pain management - an on-demand webinar

●     Guidance update: Long COVID assessment and management

●     Neurological aspects of long COVID - an on-demand webinar

A link to the book Dr Amy Small mentions (Amazon) Classic Pacing for a Better Life with ME

Top tips: managing long COVID

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This week Emma speaks with Dr Gemma Wilkinson, a GP in Nottingham and clinical lead for the Nottinghamshire GP Phoenix Programme, a workforce support organisation affiliated to Nottinghamshire LMC.

The GP Phoenix Programme has a range of support programmes that focus on GP retention at every stage of a doctor’s career – from GP training, to newly-qualified GPs, through to mid-career and also those doctors approaching retirement.

In this conversation Gemma explains the steps the GP Phoenix Programme is taking to improve retention, what other areas can learn from their initiatives and what more needs to be done to stop GPs leaving the profession early.

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

This summer

Talking General Practice is taking a break for the summer. During August we will be putting out some of the interviews from the first series of the podcast as stand alone episodes for those of you who may have missed those or started listening to the podcast more recently. They cover some really interesting and important topics, which we think are worth showcasing again.

We’ll be back for series 3 on 9 September. 

Useful links

• GP Phoenix Programme induction materials
• Information for practice managers on employing a new to practice fellow - from the GP Phoenix Programme. And video explaining the same.
• Phoenix GP - a national career development and leadership programme for mid career GPs

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In our fortnightly news review, the team discusses some numbers that Nick’s crunched looking at GP partners across England and which areas are losing partners fastest, as well as some predictions about workforce figures from the Health Foundation

They also talk about latest developments on visa problems facing international medical graduates coming out of GP training, the latest health and social care committee hearing on the future of general practice and explain some PCN concerns about recruiting under the additional roles reimbursement scheme.

And there’s some good news about an award for the NHS in all four UK countries.

This episode was presented by GPonline editor Emma Bower who is joined by our news editor Nick Bostock. It was produced by Czarina Deen.

Useful links

●     Which parts of England are losing GP partners fastest?

●     Government has no plans to scrap GP partnership model, DHSC official tells MPs

●     New primary care minister says general practice is not in crisis

●     RCGP demands 'a job and a future' in the NHS for all IMG GP trainees

●     PCNs 'frightened' to recruit as ARRS delays create six-figure cash shortfall

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This week Emma speaks to practice managers Jo Wadey and Nicola Davies who are also directors of the Institute of General Practice Management (IGPM).

They discuss how and why they set up the IGPM, the institute’s new scheme for accreditation of practice managers and their views about practice managers being excluded from NHS England’s new to partnership scheme.

Jo and Nicola also talk about the importance of good practice management and how the role has changed in recent years, concerns about the number of practice managers leaving the profession and how increased aggressive behaviour from patients has affected practice staff.

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

Useful links

●     IGPM information on practice management accreditation

●     IGPM webinar introducing accreditation (on YouTube)

●     New accreditation programme for practice managers (on GPonline)

●     Campaign launched to tackle 'daily abuse' of GP practice staff (on GPonline)

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This week the team discusses what’s been happening at the BMA’s annual representative meeting this week, including a vote that could determine the future of primary care networks, talk of pay increases and the latest on stamping out sexism in the BMA.

They talk about the GMC reversing a decision to suspend GP Dr Manjula Arora for one month after she said she was promised a laptop by her employers. And they look at the RCGP’s new campaign that sets out the steps the college thinks are needed to address the workload and workforce crisis in general practice, as well as the college’s plan for embedding relationship-based care in GP practices.

Finally, there’s some good news on a community transport service for GP practices in west London.

This episode was presented by GPonline editor Emma Bower who is joined by our news editor Nick Bostock. It was produced by Czarina Deen.

Useful links

●     Doctors tell BMA to pull GP practices out of PCNs by 2023

●     BMA to demand significant pay rises to combat 15 years of real-term cuts

●     Only 55% of Romney review recommendations on BMA sexism fully implemented

●     What solutions to the GP crisis has the RCGP proposed?

●     GP access debate must shift to emphasise quality as well as speed, warns RCGP

●     RCGP relationship-based care document

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This week Emma speaks to RCGP chair Professor Martin Marshall ahead of the college’s annual conference next week.

Professor Marshall talks about the government’s attitude to general practice, how he believes the workforce and workload crisis could be tackled and the impact the backlog of care is having on general practice.

He also discusses the future of the NHS under integrated care systems and his views on primary care networks and whether he feels positive about the future of general practice.

The conversation was recorded just ahead of the college launching its new campaign - which you can read more about from the links below.

GPonline is once again the media partner for the RCGPs annual conference. You can read all the news from the event which takes place from 29 June-1 July 2022 on our website at GPonline.com.

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

Useful links

●     RCGP Fit for the Future document

●     RCGP guidance on long-term conditions and pandemic recovery in primary care

●     RCGP warns 19,000 GPs could quit in 'mass exodus' over next five years

●     What solutions to the GP crisis has the RCGP proposed?

●     Professor Martin Marshall: In my 30 years as a GP the job has never been so tough

●     Coverage from the RCGP conference (available from 29 June)

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This week Emma and Nick look at the results of a court hearing involving NHS Property Services and what this means for practices located in buildings owned by the organisation.

They also talk about the findings from a new survey by the BMA into racism in the NHS and looking ahead to the BMA’s annual representative meeting in just over a week and the primary care motions that are up for debate. Finally, there’s some good news on fit notes and Jubilee honours.

This episode was presented by GPonline editor Emma Bower who is joined by news editor Nick Bostock. It was produced by Czarina Deen.

Useful links

●     We work in a 1950s tin-roof health centre': poll shows impact of NHS underfunding

●     GPs recognised in Queen's Jubilee honours

●     'Devastating' legal ruling threatens practice closures over £200m NHSPS service charges

●     Racism threatens to drive thousands of GPs out of their jobs, BMA poll suggests

●     GPs could withdraw from PCNs by 2023 under plan set for BMA debate

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This week on the podcast GPonline editor Emma Bower speaks to Dr Emma Wong, chair of the RCGP's First 5 committee. The committee represents newly qualified GPs in their first 5 years of practice within the college.

They talk about making the transition from training to independent practice, the support that's available to new GPs and Emma's decision to become a partner straight out of training - which is now becoming a more unusual career step.

Emma also explains why she thinks portfolio careers can benefit general practice and offers some practical advice to those about to qualify.

This episode was produced by Czarina Deen.

Useful links

RCGP information and resources for First 5 GPs

How to contact the RCGP First 5 committee

NHS Practitioner Health

Next Generation GP

Why general practice needs more young leaders - article on GPonline about the Next Generation GP scheme

Details of the New to Partnership Scheme

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This week Emma and Nick discuss the stocktake of primary care that has just been carried out on behalf of NHS England by GP Dr Claire Fuller. They look at what it had to say and what it could mean for general practice.

They also talk about general practice workforce figures and the government’s ongoing attempts to misrepresent the data.

And they look at what GPs really think about primary care networks and discuss some very real concerns about the future of the partnership model of general practice.

Finally there’s a bit of good news about primary care nursing.

This episode was presented by GPonline editor Emma Bower who was joined by our news editor Nick Bostock. It was produced by Czarina Deen.

Useful links:

What does the Fuller stocktake mean for general practice in England? (from GP Business)

what does fuller stocktake mean on general practice england

Government accused of 'misleading' claims on general practice workforce

NHS workforce fears as retirements surge to all-time high

Most GPs say PCNs have added to GP workload and bring little benefit to practices

PCNs are 'existential threat' to GP independent contractor model, BMA warns

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