Ockham Healthcare is running a series of podcasts and blogs on local locum GP chambers because of the impact they can have on an area struggling with GP recruitment. In this second blog in our series Ben Gowland calls on CCGs to do what they can to support their development – but warns against trying to control them.

In the second in our short series on local locum GP chambers Ben talks to Mark Sage a newly qualified GP who opted to work as a locum and found the support he needed within his local locum GP chambers. If you missed the first podcast in this series (which explains all about chambers) you can find it here.

Ben is worried that the General Practice Forward View does not fit with everything else that is going on including the Sustainability and Transformation Plans and the new CCG assessment and improvement framework. In his latest audioblog he warns of the consequences of not joining up the dots.

Can GP practices work in closer collaboration with the local Acute Trust and yet not lose their independence? Ben talks to Dr Berge Balian, a long-standing GP who was appointed Associate Medical Director for Primary Care at Yeovil District Hospital and is one of the clinical leaders for a Primary and Acute Care System (PACS) model. He tells Ben how GP and hospital services have come together, how GPs were convinced to support this new model and how the whole system has benefited.

Locum Chambers are groups of local locum GPs who work together through a shared management structure to support GP practices in a local area. If your area does not have one, Ben Gowland outlines 10 reasons why you should.

One in four GPs is a locum. A local locum GP chambers can be incredibly effective in recruiting and retaining locum GPs into an area and in this podcast we hear from Richard Fieldhouse, a locum GP who developed the first Locum GP Chambers and helped set up the National Association of Sessional GPs. He tells Ben what a Chambers is, how it works and how it benefits practices and sessional GPs.

Increasing GP cynicism about the Government’s Forward View is understandable, argues Ben Gowland in his latest audioblog and, without a clear financial plan, the criticisms can only increase.

Nigel Grinstead is one of the UK’s foremost experts on General Practice operating at scale. He has been involved in most of the country’s largest and most successful GP partnerships. In this episode of our podcast he talks to Ben about the benefits and challenges of General Practice at scale and launches the new Provider Exchange website.

Dr Steve Kell was, until April this year, chair of Bassetlaw CCG and national co-chair of NHS Clinical Commissioners. In this podcast he explains to Ben why he has given up both of these roles and gone back to being a full-time GP. In particular, he talks about the exciting work his practice is undertaking as part of a pilot site for the Primary Care Home.

Continuing our mini-series of podcasts looking at other professional roles in General Practice, Ben talks to Dr Neil Langridge who is a Consultant Physiotherapist in a GP practice. He tells Ben about his role and the positive impact that it has had on patients and the GP workload.

In the second of his audio blogs, Ben Gowland argues that General Practice really needs help in navigating a route through the post-GP Forward View world. Read more of Ben's blogs on our website at http://ockham.healthcare/category/the-general-practice-blog/ 

Ben talks to Dr Maureen Baker, Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners about the future of collaborative working and the role of General Practice in the integration agenda. In a wide-ranging discussion following the recent publication of an RCGP report on the subject, she also touches on the GP Forward View, the future of the GP partner model and the idea of practices working at scale.

This week we are trying something new and would like your view on whether we continue. This is our first audio blog in which Ben Gowland has just four minutes to argue that rather than sitting in CCGs, GP leaders should be out supporting the development of core general practice.

Wow! What an inspiring podcast we have this week as Ben talks to pharmacist Karen Acott. Karen was the country’s first ever pharmacist partner in a GP practice in 2004 and is now Chairman of a major GP federation in Devon. She tells Ben about the value to a practice of employing a pharmacist and provides inspiration to all professionals working in primary care.

With the Bolton Quality Contract, Bolton CCG has invested an additional £3m in General Practice and provided a guaranteed income per patient. In turn this has helped them to tackle some of their most pressing problems including access and the patient experience through incentives for the delivery of a set of agreed standards. The contract has been a huge success and effectively funded itself in the first year. Ben talks to Su Long, the Accountable Officer at Bolton CCG, to understand more about how the contract was developed, how it works and how its success is being measured.

Our Health Partnership in Birmingham is the biggest GP partnership in the UK covering 32 practices, 150 partners and a population of 280,000. Ben talks to Managing Director Dr Mark Newbold in the second of our podcast series tracking the progress of OHP, and discovers how the partnership works, what the benefits are and what lessons have been learnt so far.

The King’s Fund have today (5th May) published their report “Understanding the Pressures in General Practice”. In a bonus episode of his popular podcast, Ben Gowland speaks to Beccy Baird, a Fellow in Health Policy and one of the authors of the report. What does the report tell us about the current state of General Practice – and will anyone listen?

The recently published GP Forward View appears to presentpractices with a number of opportunities. What does a practice needto do to access a share of the £2.4bn available? Ben Gowlanddiscusses the various “pots” of money that are being released andurges practices to prepare well in advance.

When 87 practices get together to work at a truly mammoth scale, what benefits can accrue? How does communication work and what problems can occur? Ben talks to John Tacchi, CEO of Birmingham Integrated General Practice (BIG Practice) and finds out whether BIG is beautiful.

Can fundamental change in General Practice be achieved by changing the contracting model? Will the use of other professionals achieve major efficiencies? Reform the public sector think tank believe so and have published “Who Cares; The Future of General Practice” to set out their “blue print for best practice”. In this bonus edition of our podcast, Ben Gowland talks to Alex Hitchcock, one of the report’s authors.

Digital health technologies could dramatically change the relationships between clinicians and patients and support the shift towards prevention. Ben interviews Maneesh Juneja, internationally lauded expert in digital health to determine whether the advent of this brave new world is a promise or a threat.

Can technology help GPs better manage on-the-day demand? Ben talks to Harry Longman, founder and Chief Executive of GP Access, about how telephone consulting and online algorithms can dramatically support practices in reducing the pressures of seemingly uncontrollable demand.

How can commissioners support the development of General Practice? Ben talks to Dr Isobel Hodkinson the principal clinical lead at Tower Hamlets CCG about their 15 year journey of transformation through network working to a borough-wide GP provider group.

In our second look at a Portsmouth practice which has expanded following a series of mergers, Ben talks to their Business Partner, Mark Stubbings. Mark outlines some of the steps needed for a successful merger and sees a future where operating at an even greater scale is the norm.

How to realise the benefits of operating at scale: part 1.  This week Ben talks to Dr Andrew Whittamore from Portsdown Group Practice in Portsmouth, which has grown to cover a population of 40,000, about the growing pains of increasing in practice size, and making size an asset.

The practice has energetically pursued a policy of expansion and are continuing to grow, aiming to double in size again over the next few years. Their focus is first and foremost what is best for patient care in their area and believe that working at increasing scale brings significant benefits for patients, practice staff and the health economy as a whole.