It is undeniable that the success of the Covid vaccination programme so far is due to the efficiency and the herculean efforts of general practice staff across the board; from volunteers, to drivers, Practice Managers, doctors, nursing, and administration teams who all continue to go the extra mile to try to get the country back on its feet. On our dedicated monthly Practice Index / Ockham podcast, we have closely followed the progress of our Practice Managers (and their teams) from the beginning in December and January - and this week we revisit their journeys at a pivotal point as they smash their initial target of vaccinating the most vulnerable patient groups with their first doses. On this month’s panel, podcast regular Nicola Davies is joined by her colleagues Kay Keane of Alvanley Family Practice (and network manager for Werneth PCN) and Andrew Athale, Practice Manager for Eastmoor and Alverthorpe GP practices, to discuss their largely positive experiences so far but also the additional pressure they and their wider colleagues are feeling, their views on ensuring full and accurate financial reimbursement across their networks and what comes next as far as core general practice demand and delivery of second doses are concerned.
Introductions (34 secs)
Progress on the vaccination programme in each area; starting with Nicola’s (1 min 30 secs)
Kay tells us about her experiences in Stockport so far (2 mins 26 secs)
Kay’s role in the process (3 mins 1 secs)
Patient inspiration (3 mins 29 secs)
How has it gone so far in Andrew’s network? (4 mins 5 secs)
Meeting the challenge of vaccinating care home residents and house bound patients (5 mins 3 secs)
Processing payment (7 mins 51 secs)
The problem with Pinnacle (9 mins 20 secs)
Ensuring accurate and timely distribution of funds (10 mins 5 secs)
The pressure of working at scale when it comes to financial reimbursement (10 mins 58 secs)
Wider network impacts (12 mins 22 secs)
Could this be the making of PCNs? (13 mins 13 secs)
How has the set up of the mass vaccination sites affected local practices? (14 mins 14 secs)
Are PCNs really in competition with the mass vaccinations sites? (15 mins 55 secs)
Delivery of vaccines at a more local level (17 mins 30 secs)
Preparations for second doses (18 mins 56 secs)
Why delivery notifications need to be right (19 mins 30 secs)
Managing core general practice demand alongside the vaccine drive (20 mins 2 secs)
Pressure on Practice Managers (20 mins 49 secs)
Ben’s closing remarks (22 mins 25 secs)
The Practice Index website can be found here
For all enquiries, please contact James Dillon here
With demand on general practice already at an all-time high, many practices and networks require a smarter solution to manage staffing and rotas, to ensure the pressure of core primary care work, alongside the mass vaccination drive, can be effectively delivered. Dr Ishani Patel, GP and co-founder of the digital staff bank solution Lantum is back on the podcast and joined by colleague, Lantum account manager, Tom Herbert-Maynard, to update us on the progress that Lantum has made, how their solution is supporting ICSs up and down the country to create a fully flexible workforce across the NHS eco-system, their influence on staffing the vaccination sites and most importantly, to provide information on the NHSEI funding available now for ICSs to enable procurement of and access to a digital staff bank.
Introductions (38 secs)
Who are Lantum and what role are they playing in supporting the vaccination rollout? (51 secs)
How does a digital staff bank work where the vaccination programme is concerned? (1 min 39 secs)
Lessons learned from the programme so far (3 mins 28 secs)
What advantages does a digital system offer versus traditional methods of rota management? (5 mins 38 secs)
How would a rota manager organise staffing using an online portal, in practice? (6 mins 8 secs)
Governance considerations (8 mins 14 secs)
Maintaining a good rate of vaccinations and how the system could support this (8 mins 26 secs)
The key differences between smaller vaccination hubs and larger scale vaccination sites (9 mins 28 secs)
NHSEI funding availability (11 mins 5 secs)
Putting a flexible staffing pool in place across an ICS (12 mins 46 secs)
Which roles can be managed within a digital staff bank? (14 mins 34 secs)
Enabling delivery of truly integrated care (15 mins 22 secs)
Breaking down organisational boundaries (16 mins 29 secs)
How do I access the NHSEI funding offer? (17 mins 29 secs)
I am a Clinical Director, and I would like to find out more (18 mins 29 secs)
Getting in touch (19 mins 20 secs)
The Lantum website is here
Ishani is contactable here
This page explains a little more about how Lantum can provide 'connected scheduling' between staff banks.
What should be the key considerations when sourcing a digital staff bank provider? Lantum’s blog post is here
With the right training and support in place, Physician Associates can play an important part in relieving a proportion of the clinical burden on GPs and their wider staff. As the role is now included in those available through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, we persuaded Ria Agarwal, herself an experienced Physician Associate (PA), to make a return to the podcast, to share her experiences and her tips for getting the best out of a newly recruited PA. Why she believes they can really make a difference to practice productivity, what PA preceptorships (such as the scheme currently on offer in Sheffield) can bring in the way of support and how to get the best out of your newest recruit.
Introduction (34 secs)
Four years in the life of a Physician Associate (PA) (48 secs)
Is the PA role now more widely accepted in general practice? (2 mins 5 secs)
The inclusion of PAs in the additional roles’ reimbursement scheme (2 mins 39 secs)
Preceptorship schemes (2 mins 58 secs)
What is involved in a preceptorship typically? (3 mins 46 secs)
Structuring PA consulting appointments in the first year (6 mins 24 secs)
Progression and training (7 mins 16 secs)
The influence of a practice in enhancing the potential of a PA (8 mins 26 secs)
Is there a benefit to newly qualified PAs having access to and mentorship from a more experienced PA? (11 mins 3 secs)
Tackling recruitment (12 mins 31 secs)
Expectation versus reality (15 mins 11 secs)
Why where you base your PA matters (16 mins 24 secs)
Preceptorship funding (17 mins 22 secs)
The key to success (18 mins 30 secs)
Final thoughts and advice (19 mins 44 secs)
A link to Ria’s paper on the preceptorship scheme available in Sheffield is here
When primary care networks were first launched, many believed this might spell the end for GP federations, but this is not necessarily the case. There are numerous examples of some innovative partnership models developing across the country to support PCNs in delivering the best quality care and whereby federations are providing the resources to absorb some of the key workstreams, thus removing the burden from practice and network staff. Alliance for Better Care, or ABC as they are commonly known, are a typical example of a GP federation who are achieving success by working collaboratively with their PCNs. This is due, in part, to the expertise of their two Network Development Managers, Caroline Upton and Lena Abdu, who join Ben on the podcast to give an insight into their roles, what they entail, where they have made a difference and why partnership working might be the way forward.
Introductions (38 secs)
ABC demographic and mission (57 secs)
Lena’s background (1 min 39 secs)
Caroline’s journey to becoming a Network Development Manager (2 mins 42 secs)
Sharing the management of networks from a federation perspective (3 mins 14 secs)
Ownership of dedicated work packages (4 mins 2 secs)
The importance of maintaining strong relationships with individual clinical directors (4 mins 48 secs)
Communication and engagement with wider teams (5 mins 34 secs)
Other available support for PCNs (6 mins 42 secs)
All about recruitment (7 mins 53 secs)
The additional roles scheme (10 mins 23 secs)
Managing workload and demand capacity (12 mins 4 secs)
Meeting the new general practice service specifications (13 mins 13 secs)
Meeting representation (15 mins 38 secs)
What are the main challenges? (17 mins 31 secs)
How are the Network Development Manager roles costed? (19 mins 43 secs)
Finding out more and getting in touch (21 mins 32 secs)
Alliance for Better Care’s website can be found here
Email: caroline.upton@nhs.net and / or lena.abdu@nhs.net