Frailty and the introduction of a targeted service to better meet the needs of those living locally with frailty issues was high on the agenda of Townships 1 PCN Clinical Director and GP Dr Tom Holdsworth. Once CCG funding had been successfully secured, the challenge to recruit a clinical project lead was proving tricky and Tom was eventually convinced by a colleague that an Occupational Therapist, in the form of Julia Clifford, might be the answer. One year on from Julia’s appointment and following a formal evaluation of the service, both Tom and Julia join Ben to discuss all aspects of the transformative approach they are taking in Sheffield to support their frail populations. From Tom’s initial concerns about whether an OT could provide what was needed, to the service specification and what Julia can offer, working collaboratively with the other additional roles team, and the service evaluation findings, this week’s episode is another truly inspirational offering to round off the 2021 podcast series.

Introductions (26 secs)

The origins of ‘Townships 1’ PCN (38 secs)

How was the service first introduced? (58 secs)

Why a project focused on supporting frailty? (2 mins 57 secs)

The story behind recruiting an Occupational Therapist (OT) for the project role (3 mins 59 secs)

Preconceptions of what an OT could offer (4 mins 43 secs)

What attracted Julia to the role? (5 mins 8 secs)

Evaluating progress to date (5 mins 57 secs)

What are the most common scenarios and interventions? Where is Julia able to make the biggest impact? (8 mins 8 secs)

Alignment with the PCN’s ARRS strategy (9 mins 58 secs)

Making the most of the ARRS funding pot (10 mins 52 secs)

Formal service evaluation findings (12 mins 3 secs)

Are the practices feeling the impact? (13 mins 45 secs)

The risk of uncovering unmet need (14 mins 25 secs)

Continuing to progress amongst competing demands (14 mins 54 secs)

Working towards the anticipatory care specification (16 mins 46 secs)

Lessons learned from Julia’s perspective (18 mins 29 secs)

The full, published evaluation of the frailty project can be found here.

If you are interested in learning more, Tom and Julia are very happy to be contacted via their respective emails.

April 2022 marks a significant turning point in terms of finances for both employers and employees within primary care, as changes to the National Living Wage are made, the new Health and Social Care Levy comes into force and there are additional implications for those paying into the NHS Pensions Scheme. Regular podcast guest and primary care accountancy guru James Gransby returns to walk us through all the updates and what these could mean in real terms for practices and staff as individuals. James is joined by Practice Index panel members Nicola Davies and Claire Houston who reflect on the significance of the changes, how they can best prepare themselves (and their staff) as Practice Managers, and how they might mitigate the risks, and the knock on effect, on the ground.

Introductions (30 secs)

Changes to the National Living Wage (1 mins)

The Health and Social Care Levy (1 min 38 secs)

The knock-on effect on employers and employees (2 mins 32 secs)

Impact from a practice perspective (3 mins 7 secs)

Nicola’s reaction / pressure on staff (4 mins 12 secs)

Claire’s views / benchmarking performance in line with finance (6 mins 9 secs)

Implications for recruitment (7 mins 41 secs)

How can we make our vacancies more attractive to potential applicants? (8 mins 49 secs)

Pitting practice against practice (9 mins 41 secs)

Pensions changes in summary (10 mins 53 secs)

The effect of the McCloud Judgement (11 mins 40 secs)

Reviewing personal pensions choices (12 mins 13 secs)

How can we ensure everyone is aware of what’s coming? (16 mins 12 secs)

Where accountancy firms can help (18 mins 5 secs)

Will the additional costs be considered centrally? (19 mins 17 secs)

Contractual pressures (20 mins 21 secs)

Communication is key (21 mins 43 secs)

What else do we need to be aware of right now? (23 mins 17 secs)

The Practice Index benchmarking tool Claire mentioned can be found here

The Practice Index website is here

For all enquiries, please contact James Dillon here or Ben Gowland here