Dr Zal Alam is a Director & Intermediate Tier Lead for GP Care Services in Rochdale. The GP provider organisation has been instrumental in developing a care collaborative (with acute care, the local authority, the out-of-hours service and third party partners) that has established an Intermediate Care Service in Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale. In this podcast Zal tells Ben that the scheme demonstrates how integration can work in practice, how clinical leadership drives the collaboration and the impact of the scheme in reducing admissions.

Jonathan Serjeant is a GP and founder of an organisation called Here based in Brighton whose aim is to “…help people to live well”. Here have developed a system of workflow optimisation for GP practices which is “…a system by which practice administration staff are trained, and supported to read, code, and action incoming clinical correspondence safely and accurately” In this podcast Jonathan tells Ben everything you need to know about the system and it’s phenomenal impact on GP administrative time.

Jon Griffiths is the GP Chair of Vale Royal CCG in Cheshire and the presenter of a recent TEDx talk on why he chose generalism over a specialist medical career. In this podcast he explains to Ben his passion for being a generalist and how he developed the talk. He also talks about the reaction to his views on this and other subjects from fellow clinicians and others.

The Health Foundation (an independent charity aiming to improve healthcare) has recently published a report entitled “The Challenge and Potential of Whole System Flow” which is about the coordination of all systems and resources, across a health and social care economy. This week Ben talks to Penny Pereira, one of the report’s authors, about why flow is important and, particularly, why it is relevant to general practice.

The second in our occasional series looking at the role of physician associates addresses the broader national picture as well as containing some useful advice for general practice on how to find and attract PAs. This week Ben talks to Jeannie Watkins, President and Chair of the Professional Standards Sub-Committee at the Faculty of Physician Associates at the Royal College of Physicians. You can also listen to our first podcast in this series, where Ben talks with two current physician associates about their role, here.

Leg Clubs are an innovative way of treating people with leg ulcers. Patients with leg problems become members of a club, which meets in a community setting and provides a mix of clinical interventions and social support. Amanda Brookes, an NHS manager from Wiltshire, has introduced a Leg Club into general practice and, in this podcast, explains to Ben how the club works and some of the astounding results they have delivered.

Mark Newbold is managing director of Our Health Partnership, a super partnership of 32 GP practices in Birmingham covering a population of 280,000. This is the third time we’ve checked in with Mark to talk about OHP’s progress and he tells Ben about their in-house locum system, quality support for practices, new locality structure and potential growth. Our first podcast with Mark can be accessed here and our second (from May 2016) can be accessed here.

Ria Agarwal and Andy King are both physician’s associates, a role which remains controversial in general practice. In our latest podcast we begin an occasional series about this role by talking to Ria and Andy about the scope of their role, their route into becoming PAs and their contribution to the practices in which they work.

Jennifer Skillen is the Chair of the Patient Participation Group at Romney House Surgery in Tetbury, Gloucestershire. Jennifer is introducing a range of technical solutions to the thorny issue of how to positively engage patients in general practice. She tells Ben about the “virtual” PPG and its impact on the surgery.

Laura Sharpe and Paula Beare work for the successful City and Hackney GP Confederation which is formed of 43 GP practices. In this podcast they explain to Ben how they gained GP commitment to the confederation, how the confederation operates and the ambitious plans they have for the future.