Talking General Practice

Emma speaks to GP and academic Dr Ben Brown from the University of Manchester whose research looks at how AI and machine learning could support healthcare professionals and patients.

Ben is currently involved in developing a new AI system that helps support triage of GP online consultations and was this year’s winner of the Society for Academic Primary Care’s award for outstanding early career research.

Both the government and the Labour Party have touted AI as a possible solution to the NHS’s workforce challenges, arguing it could free up clinicians so they can spend more time with patients. Reports suggest that the long-awaited NHS Workforce plan, which is due to be published imminently, will have a big focus on the role that new technology and AI in particular will play in the NHS over the next 10 years.

In this conversation Ben explains exactly what AI is, how it is being used currently in the NHS and its potential for the future. He also discusses how AI could help GPs and their teams manage their workloads, and what a GP consultation could look like in future, when AI is more established.

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

Useful links

More information on the system Ben is developing called PATCHS

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

This week Emma and Nick discuss the government’s long-awaited NHS workforce plan, when it might be published and what general practice will be hoping to see in it.

They look at the results from a recent GPonline about inappropriate transfer of work from secondary to primary care and what needs to be done to address this.

And they talk about a motion up for debate at next month’s BMA annual representative meeting where delegates will call for a no confidence vote in the GMC – as well as some of the other issues relevant to general practice that will be debated at the meeting.

This week’s good news story highlights some of the GPs who received honours in the King’s birthday honours list last weekend.

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

Useful links

●     'Complex' funding questions holding up NHS workforce plan, Barclay admits

●     Racism is shrinking the NHS workforce, warns former BMA chair

●     GPs call for action on work transfer from hospitals to tackle workload crisis

●     GMC faces 'no confidence' vote at BMA annual meeting

●     Health leaders demand action on five-year-old pledge to strip GMC of appeal powers

●     GPs among those to receive honours in King's birthday list

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

Emma speaks to Christiana Melam, the chief executive of the National Association of Link Workers, who explains how social prescribing can help practices and GPs to meet demand and better support their patients.

Christiana explains why it is so important that the NHS looks at changing the way that it works, given that the current model is not meeting the needs of patients, highlighting the key role that social prescribing can play in prevention and addressing health inequalities.

The National Association of Link Workers also trains care navigators and Christiana also talks about what the recent access recovery plan had to say about care navigation and what this means for practices and their reception teams.

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

Useful links

●     National Association of Link Workers - Education standards

●     National Academy for Social Prescribing - evidence to support the use of social prescribing

●     National Association of Link Workers report - Exploring social prescribing referrals & impact on Information, advice and guidance Services

●     National Association of Link Workers report - The role of PPGs in social prescribing

●     GP mythbuster 106: Primary care first contact practitioners (FCPs) - Care Quality Commission (cqc.org.uk)

●     Tailored Primary Care Workforce Development and Wellbeing Packages from NALW

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

This week the GPonline team talks about a call for emergency funding to support general practice across the UK as practices struggle to deal with rising costs – and look at what these financial pressures mean for GP partner income.

They also discuss the state of general practice in Northern Ireland and Scotland after some dire warnings from the BMA in each of those countries.

And look at the latest workforce and appointment data for general practice and the ARRS in England.

In better news, a new blood test for cancer that could help diagnose people much earlier is the podcast’s good news story for this week.

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

Useful links

GP partner income 'down 15% in a year' as soaring costs hit drawings

One in three GP practices in Northern Ireland faced serious closure risk in past 18 months

One in ten Scottish practices close lists in face of 'unsustainable' pressure

Proportion of GPs aged over 55 rising as workforce shrinks

Is the government right to claim its 26,000 additional roles target has been met?

Blood test for multiple cancers can diagnose two-thirds of cases, study suggests

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

Emma speaks to Dr Matt Harris and GP Dr Connie Junghans Minton about an initiative involving community health and wellbeing workers that has been adopted in Connie’s practice in London and is also being rolled out to practices in other parts of the country.

It is based on a long-running scheme from Brazil, where evidence shows it has made a significant difference in terms of public health measures and health outcomes. Community health and wellbeing workers have already had some impressive results in the short time they have been working in London.

Matt, who is now a clinical senior lecturer in public health medicine at Imperial College London saw the scheme in action first hand when he worked as a GP in Brazil and it was his idea to bring the model to this country.

In this interview, he explains how the scheme works and how it can help GPs. Meanwhile Connie, who is also senior clinical fellow in primary care at Imperial College, discusses how her practice introduced community health and wellbeing workers for some of their most deprived patients and results from the initial pilot.

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

Useful links

Information on the community health and wellbeing worker programme is on the NAPC website here

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

The team talks about safe working limits and the number of GPs we need in England to ensure doctors are working within those safe levels. They discuss some of the key debates from the UK LMCs conference that took place last week, including full GP pay restoration and whether we should have SAS doctors in general practice. And they look at the state of GP premises.

This week’s good news story is about a primary care transformation project within a PCN that improved patient outcomes, at the same time as delivering cost-savings.

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

Useful links

●     1 in 5 people in England would be without a GP if practices stuck to 'safe limit'

●     Which ICB areas have the most severe GP shortages?

●     UK LMCs conference 2023: full coverage

●     Junior doctors in England to hold three-day strike in June

●     GPs block drafty windows with tape as four in 10 work in unfit premises

●     Evaluation of the Foundry Healthcare Lewes’ primary care transformation project

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

Emma speaks to Dr Elaine Lockhart, chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Children and Young People’s Faculty and a consultant with the learning disability child and adolescent mental health service in Glasgow.

In this conversation Elaine explains some of the problems that children and young people of different ages may present with, and what the possible long-term consequences of the pandemic could be.

She also discusses the shortage of specialist services, which result in long waits for children needing support, and what this means for GPs and primary care, as well as what needs to happen in both the shorter and longer term to address this problem. And she talks about the impact social media can have on children and young people’s wellbeing.

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

Useful links

·      Royal College of Psychiatrists children and young people’s faculty

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

This week the team looks at the government and NHS England’s joint recovery plan for access to primary care, as well as changes to the GP contract around patient access that come into effect next week. They discuss what this all means for practices and patients and whether it will actually make a difference.

They also discuss whether the BMA is likely to ballot GPs on taking industrial action following this year’s contract imposition - and what GPs on the ground think about this.

Finally our good news story is about patient campaigns to save local GP surgeries.

This episode was presented by GPonline’s editor Emma Bower, news editor Nick Bostock and senior reporter Eleanor Philpotts. It was produced by Czarina Deen.

Useful links

●     GP access recovery plan - key points

●     Four-month visa extension for newly-qualified IMG GPs as training places to expand

●     Primary care role for SAS doctors 'not viable', BMA paper warns

●     Access overhaul will swamp practices and trap patients in loop with 111, GPs fear

●     GP leaders in contract talks with government after industrial action vote

●     LMCs debate salaried GP workload cap and debt cancellation for trainees

●     Patients across the UK are campaigning to save local GP services

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

Emma speaks to specialist medical accountant Laurence Slavin, the senior partner at Ramsay Brown chartered accountants, which specialises in the finances of GPs and practices.

In this conversation Laurence explains how rising inflation has affected practices, the financial implications of the 2023/24 GP contract and why he thinks the government’s plan to get high-earning GPs to publicly declare their income is a really bad idea.

Emma and Laurence also talk about some of the problems GPs are facing with pensions, including some of the challenges when dealing with Primary Care Support England.

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

Useful links

●     Ramsay Brown

●     GP Business

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

This week the team looks at Labour’s plans for how it will reform primary care if it wins the next general election.

They talk about a report on retention of staff in general practice by Londonwide LMCs and how staff shortages are threatening the future of practices. And they discuss what impact an ageing population is having on workload in general practice.

Finally our good news story this week is about diabetes.

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

Useful links

●     Labour rules out nationalising practices but says GP model 'in decline'

●     Government failure to publish NHS workforce plan ‘unforgiveable’, says Labour

●     NHS GP role 'untenable for significant majority', warns LMC

●     How an ageing population is piling pressure on general practice

●     NHS low calorie diet for type 2 diabetes to extend across England

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