Talking General Practice

This week on the podcast Emma and Nick talk about physician associates after the BMA GP committee in England voted in favour of a strongly worded motion that called for an immediate freeze on recruiting these roles in general practice. They also look at plans for regulating PAs by the GMC, which is also causing concern in the medical profession.

They also discuss the RCGP’s new definition of what a GP is, and they look ahead to the England local medical committee conference at the end of this month and some of the motions relating to the GP contract that are up for debate.

Our good news story this week is about prescribing of DOACs in primary care and the impact this has had on stroke prevention.

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

Useful links

BMA demands halt to 'increasing trend' of PAs substituting GPs

​​Doctors warn GMC plans to regulate physician associates are 'unsafe'

Supervising physician associates – what GPs need to know - advice from the MDU

GPs are 'consultants in general practice', says RCGP

GP prescribing shift has stopped thousands of strokes, says NHS chief

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emma speaks to Surrey GPs Dr Gillian Orrow, Dr Tabassum Siddiqui and Dr Richard Wright, about how a programme called Growing Health Together, which Gillian co-founded, is helping general practice and other partners in the local health system to tackle health inequalities.

One of the key aims of Growing Health Together is to create a more sustainable health and care system, by reducing demand in primary and secondary care through health creation, prevention, and early intervention.

It is based on the idea of health creation and this episode looks at what health creation is, some of the local schemes that Growing Health Together has helped to establish and how this is all benefiting local people.

Gillian, Tabassum and Richard also explain how this work fits in with what their primary care networks are trying to achieve and the value of GPs having funded time to spend in their local communities to help understand the challenges some of their patients face and work out solutions that can help.

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

Useful links

Growing Health Together

The YouTube video explaining some of the work Growing Health Together is doing is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfW5cjpvklU

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emma and Nick reflect on last week’s RCGP annual conference, in particular the details of the college’s manifesto to save general practice and the Labour party’s reaction to it.

They look ahead to what might happen to the GP contract in England as we come towards the end of the current five-year deal, as well as discuss pay rises for practice nurses and the collapse of contract talks in Wales. And they look at online access to patient records, a contractual requirement in England that comes into effect next week, and some of the concerns around this.

Our good news story this week is about patient satisfaction with access to general practice.

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

Useful links

Read all the news from the RCGP conference here

General practice could see 'new contract for a generation' from 2028

ARRS model should be 'turned on its head', says BMA GP leader

Unions warn not all GP practices can afford 6% staff pay rise

General practice in Wales 'at risk of collapse' after contract talks break down

Remote access to GP records risks domestic abuse survivors' safety, BMA warns

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Talking General Practice speaks to RCGP chair Professor Kamila Hawthorne ahead of the college’s annual conference in Glasgow this week.

In this conversation Professor Hawthorne explains what needs to be done to help tackle spiralling workload in general practice, how we can retain more GPs in the workforce and what changes could happen in the short term to help turn the current situation in general practice around.

She also talks about how the college hopes to influence political parties in the run up to the next general election, whether the RCGP’s new exam will help tackle differential attainment and why, despite all of the current challenges, general practice is still a great place to work.

GPonline at the RCGP annual conference

The college will be launching a manifesto for general practice at its conference and you will be able to read more about this on GPonline on Thursday morning.

GPonline is delighted to once again be the college’s media partner for the RCGP annual conference, which takes place on 19 and 20 October. We’ll be in Glasgow reporting all the news from the conference - visit www.gponline.com/rcgp

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

Useful links

●     GPs seeing cases of malnutrition and rickets as cost-of-living crisis hits patient health

●     No extra funding for general practice as government unveils £200m winter support

●     An introduction to the simulated consultation assessment (SCA)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emma and Nick look at the New to Partnership Scheme – a three-year initiative that aimed to boost the number of partners in England – and ask, has it actually worked?

They discuss what’s going on with funding for general practice across the UK and what the uplifts agreed for 2023/24 mean for practices. And they talk about the latest appointment data for general practice in England and what it tells us about the pressure practices are under as we head towards winter.

This week’s good news story is about flu vaccination.

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

Useful links

●     Golden hello scheme brings in almost 3,000 new GP partners

●     What impact have 'golden hello' payments had on GP partnerships?

●     Cashflow warning as 6% uplift money delayed until November

●     Northern Ireland GP funding slashed despite 'absolute crisis'

●     'Disappointing' uplift falls short of 6% pay rise promised to GPs in Scotland

●     Dispensing practices face cashflow crisis as 'yo-yoing' fees fall sharply

●     GP practices delivering 150,000 extra appointments per day compared with 2019

●     Flu vaccination prevented 25,000 hospitalisations last year

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Talking General Practice speaks to Professor Deborah Christie, professor of paediatric and adolescent psychology and consultant clinical psychologist at University College Hospital London, about stigma in diabetes.

Deborah has published over 200 peer reviewed papers and chapters and a bestselling book called Psychosocial Aspects of Diabetes in Children, Adolescents and Families.

She’s also involved with global healthcare company Abbott’s Let’s Change Perspective campaign, which is aiming to confront unconscious bias and reduce stigma around diabetes.

In this conversation Deborah explains what diabetes stigma is and the impact it can have on patients, the role healthcare professionals in primary care can play in reducing stigma and how GPs can effectively communicate with patients to help improve outcomes.

Along with insights from her own experience she also has lots of practical advice for GPs and other healthcare professionals on how they can best support their patients.

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

Professor Deborah Christie received a fee for this podcast. Views are her own and not necessarily those of Abbott.

About Abbott

Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. They have a portfolio of life-changing technologies spanning the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines.

Useful links

●     Let’s Change Perspective

●     Diabetes UK

●     JDRF

The following are links to social media accounts Deborah mentioned during this interview:

●     Diabetic Health Coach on Instagram

●     Heather Jackson on Instagram

●     Diabetic Dad UK on X (formerly Twitter)

ADC-81740 (v1.0) 09/2023

ADC-81741 (v1.0) 09/2023

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emma speaks to London GP and co-chair of Greener Practice, a UK primary care network focused on sustainability, Dr Tamsin Ellis.

Along with her Greener Practice role, Tamsin is also a GP associate at the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, an organisation that develops knowledge and resources to help the NHS and other health systems to reach net zero.

In this conversation Tamsin discusses some practical steps that practices and clinicians can take to help tackle the climate crisis, including how sustainability and greener approaches can come into play in patient consultations, and the benefits this can bring to practices, GPs, staff and patients.

She also explains some of the resources Greener Practice and others have to help GPs, why it’s important that general practice engages with sustainability, and how getting involved in this work can make your practice a better place to work and improve staff wellbeing.

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

Useful links

These are some of the organisations and resources that Tamsin mentions during this interview:

●     Greener Practice

●     Centre for Sustainable Healthcare

●     UK Health Alliance on Climate Change

●     Greener Practice asthma toolkit

●     See Sustainability

●     Frome Medical Practice and its work on sustainability

●     Outrage and Optimism podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Emma and Nick look at some interesting tenders for GP contracts that have been put out for integrated care boards and what they might tell us about the possible direction of travel for general practice and how GP services could be commissioned in future.

They discuss physician associates and what role they have to play in the NHS after the BMA published a position statement saying it currently opposes government plans to expand their use.

And they talk about how the cost of living crisis is affecting patients and practices after an alarming RCGP survey found that GPs are seeing patients with diseases that should be confined to history including malnutrition and rickets.

This week’s good news story is about a survey from the Rebuild General Practice campaign showing how much the general public values general practice.

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

Useful links

●     PCN to take on GMS practice contract in landmark move for general practice

●     GP 'engineering' fears as small practice contracts offered on branch-only basis

●     BMA to oppose expansion of physician associate roles amid safety concerns

●     GPs seeing cases of malnutrition and rickets as cost-of-living crisis hits patient health

●     Patients back continuity of care and more GP funding, poll shows

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Emma speaks to Dr Ben Allen, a GP partner at Birley Health Centre in Sheffield.

Over the past few years Ben has invested huge amounts of time and effort to make his practice a better place to work. He’s found that by focusing on staff and improving the organisational culture, the practice has seen huge improvements across the board.

Along with having a happier workforce with improved morale and staff retention, the practice has also improved continuity and access and seen patient satisfaction scores rising at a time when nationally they are falling.

Ben explains how his practice managed to achieve all of this and has advice for any GPs or practice managers thinking of embarking on a similar journey.

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

Useful links

Follow Ben on X (formerly Twitter)

Ben’s blog

Useful reading

Ben mentions several leadership and organisational change books that he found particularly helpful during this process. These are some his favourites.

●     The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni

●     The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni

●     Reinventing Organisations by Frédéric Laloux

●     Time to Think by Nancy Kline

●     Start With Why by Simon Sinek

●     Daring Greatly by Brené Brown

●     The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey

●     Good to Great by Jim Collins

●     The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stainer

●     Built to Last by James C Collins and Jerry I Porras

●     Who by Geoff Smart and Randy Street

●     Radical Candor by Kim Scott

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In our news review Nick and Emma discuss GP pay and what’s behind recent headlines in the national press about so-called huge rises in GP income.

They also look at how the growing NHS waiting list and long waits for treatment are affecting patients and driving up workload in general practice, and discuss results from our recent survey which suggest that practices are becoming increasingly reliant on locum GPs.

This week’s good news story is about a significant reduction in people prescribed potentially addictive medicines.

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

Useful links

●     How has GP income changed over the past two decades?

●     CQC poll shows NHS waiting list driving unsustainable pressure on GPs

●     One in three GP appointments for patients on the NHS waiting list

●     GP practices growing more reliant on locums but many struggle to hire them

●     Where is GP prescribing of dependency-forming drugs falling fastest?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.