It’s an exciting week because we are so pleased to have our first PCN Manager to feature on the Ockham podcast! Tara Dawson, PCN Manager for the Lytham St Annes network, takes us through her journey to becoming PCN Manager, her experiences, her achievements, the key relationships she has formed and then, what she hopes to achieve going forwards and more broadly, why having a manager is instrumental in establishing the setup of the network, driving the key commitments and priorities - and managing the wellbeing of the relationships between practice and PCN.
Introduction (30 secs)
All about Tara and how she became a PCN Manager (47 secs)
Has Tara’s prior experience helped? (2 mins 7 secs)
Organisational setup (2 mins 58 secs)
Incorporated status and NHS pensions implications (3 mins 54 secs)
Managing the incorporation process (4 mins 56 secs)
What does a typical working week look like for Tara? (6 mins 21 secs)
Recruitment and staffing (7 mins 28 secs)
The relationship between PCN Manager and Clinical Director (8 mins 38 secs)
Has having a PCN Manager in post allowed the Clinical Directors to drive the clinical priorities? (9 mins 43 secs)
The PCN demographic and practice engagement (10 mins 57 secs)
PCN Managers and Practice Managers (13 mins 5 secs)
The best things about being a PCN Manager (14 mins 55 secs)
Support network (15 mins 53 secs)
The forward view (17 mins 5 secs)
Lessons learned so far (17 mins 53 secs)
Following up in a year (19 mins 52 secs)
Getting in touch (20 mins 24 secs)
Tara is contactable at: tara.dawson1@nhs.net
It’s all about profitability on this week’s podcast. In the second of our Practice Index panels, Practice Managers Robyn Clark and Nicola Davies return and are this time joined by financial expert James Gransby to talk through the current pressures on practice income, particularly during this period of uncertainty. However they have also shared with us their practical advice for managing finances at a local level; how to maximise income, how to avoid commonly made mistakes, where to access the most up to date toolkits and resources to support good financial management and why some practices may operate differently but can be equally profitable.
Introduction (43 secs)
Is GP income down overall? (1 min 6 secs)
How do some practices maintain profitability whilst others are experiencing a drop in their income? (2 mins 43 secs)
Maximising income (Nicola’s approach) (3 mins 40 secs)
Robyn outlines the factors influencing profitability at her practice (5 mins 27 secs)
The importance of claiming income and checking you have been paid (6 mins 39 secs)
Common mistakes that practices are making (7 mins 2 secs)
The disparity in claim eligibility and the benefit of experience (8 mins 18 secs)
PCSE portal (10 mins 38 secs)
Dealing with the fallout of PCSE issues (10 mins 55 secs)
What is the decision-making process when presented with the opportunity of a new enhanced service? (11 mins 34 secs)
Why could an enhanced service prove profitable for one practice and not for another? (12 mins 44 secs)
What opportunities might practices be missing out on? (14 mins 24 secs)
The reasons why practices operate differently but can be equally profitable (16 mins 43 secs)
Final pay controls, pensions, and tax implications (19 mins 14 secs)
Robyn, Nicola, and James’ closing words of wisdom (20 mins 25 secs)
This is the blog James mentioned
Information about Practice’s Index’s PPA Toolkit can be found here
Another resource which has been really popular from AISMA and PI is here
Contact details for the panel are as follows:
So much has changed since the formation of PCNs at the beginning of last year in terms of availability of funding and staff and the governance of how we run our networks. As a result, many partnerships, practices, and networks are reconsidering their financial models and specifically, whether incorporation could prove more lucrative in the long run. This week’s podcast features our (almost) resident financial expert, James Gransby, Partner at RSM, who has waded through the reams of guidance and jargon to explain in simple terms what the pros and cons of PCN incorporation are likely to be; what are our options, what we need to watch out for and where the hidden benefits may be.
Introduction (36 secs)
What does incorporation mean and is this the direction of travel for PCNs? (55 secs)
Why PCNs may choose to change their financial model at this stage (1 min 38 secs)
VAT implications broadly (2 mins 11 secs)
Incorporation pros (3 mins 17 secs)
Setting up a PCN as a separate entity (4 mins 19 secs)
NHS pensions (5 mins 7 secs)
CQC registration (6 mins 38 secs)
What are the other governance obligations an incorporated body would have to meet? (7 mins 2 secs)
VAT and staffing setup (8 mins 11 secs)
Tax benefits? (9 mins 26 secs)
Impact and Investment Fund monies (10 mins 49 secs)
Should a PCN incorporate itself or use a local, already incorporated, federation? (11 mins 28 secs)
Will overall funding increases lead to a greater number of limited companies? (12 mins 33 secs)
A PCN in the open market… (14 mins 8 secs)
…versus as an NHS organisation (14 mins 55 secs)
GP practices and incorporation (15 mins 36 secs)
PMS agreements and GMS contracts (18 mins 12 secs)
Getting in touch (18 mins 58 secs)
James is contactable via email at: james.gransby@rsmuk.com
A patient’s wellbeing underpins their physical health so what can we do to complement our existing models of care and ensure their wellbeing needs are met? One of our most popular guests (and as it turns out, podcast regular) Dr Neil Modha of Thistlemoor Medical Centre in Peterborough, is back on our sofa this week and believes the key lies in the relatively new health and wellbeing coaching roles. What are they? How do they fit within existing staffing and service models? How can practices and PCNs take advantage of these roles, particularly in line with the reimbursement scheme? And most importantly, what value do they add to practices and their patient populations?
Introduction (53 secs)
How has Neil’s practice coped during the pandemic? (1 min 34 secs)
The triage model at Thistlemoor (2 mins 24 secs)
The impact of Covid on general practice locally – and more broadly (3 mins 7 secs)
Integrating health and wellbeing coaches within a practice structure (4 mins 53 secs)
What is a health and wellbeing coach? What can they bring to our table? (6 mins 23 secs)
Are new people required to take on this role or can we upskill existing staff? (7 mins 30 secs)
Where Neil’s PCN are up to in the training and recruitment process (8 mins 39 secs)
The patient journey (10 mins 23 secs)
Caseload (11 mins 43 secs)
What does success look like? (12 mins 20 secs)
Who is responsible for running the training? (13 mins 33 secs)
Proving the impact (14 mins 17 secs)
Utilising funding from the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) (15 mins 49 secs)
Breaking down the financial benefits of the ARRS (17 mins 2 secs)
Where do health and wellbeing coaches fit within the context of the PCN DES? (18 mins)
Lessons learned so far (19 mins 54 secs)
Following Thistlemoor’s journey and additional resources (20 mins 57 secs)
Further information regarding health coaching can be found on Thistlemoor’s website here
The WHO wellbeing as a measure for wellbeing is an additional tool Neil and his team are using which should be completed at the beginning and end of the patient journey, to measure the impact of their health and wellbeing intervention.
If you would like to join the discussion or get in touch, both Neil and Thistlemoor are active in all the usual places:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThistlemoorMC
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thistlemoorhealth/
Raw Horizons Academy are a recognised training provider for health and wellbeing coaches and their contact details are as follows:
Website: academy.rawhorizons.co.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RHA_Wellbeing
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rawhorizons
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rawhorizons/
Finally, the link to Neil’s podcast on his practice’s triage model (which Ben refers to) can be found here