Doctors of the World is a leading charitable organisation which aims to break down barriers to healthcare and prevent social injustice for millions, both globally and within the UK. Currently based in London, Doctors of the World provide medical care, information, and practical resources for minority groups who continue to struggle with access to basic healthcare. In this month’s episode of the Practice Manager podcast, Nicola, Robyn and Ben are joined by Dr Yusuf Ciftci, Policy and Advocacy Manager, and Janet Alfred, National Health Advisor, from Doctors of the World to discuss the issues of access in-depth. From the thorny issues of current bureaucracy, prejudice and misunderstanding to re-education and improvements via the medium of programmes such as the Surgeries Initiative, and a powerful personal account of Janet’s own experiences, today’s podcast is a must-listen for general practice in raising awareness of the importance of inclusion – and improving health outcomes for all.
Introduction (9 secs)
Doctors of the World; the charity, and its aims (25 secs)
All about Yusuf (1 min 47 secs)
Janet’s background and her role as a National Health Advisor (2 mins 40 secs)
Janet details her own experiences, including the disparities between England and Scotland in accessing healthcare (3 mins 32 secs)
Why registering with a GP surgery is not necessarily straightforward (4 mins 17 secs)
Prevalence of the registration and access issue (5 mins 21 secs)
Nicola’s view (6 mins 20 secs)
Robyn’s perspective and feedback from the IGPM (8 mins 10 secs)
Re-educating practice staff (9 mins 20 secs)
Improving access and support (10 mins 6 secs)
What changes can be made right now? (12 mins 11 secs)
Doctors of the World’s Safe Surgeries Initiative (13 mins 4 secs)
Signing up for Safe Surgeries (14 mins 24 secs)
Clarification on the resources available (15 mins 5 secs)
Addressing health inequalities as a practice and as a network (15 mins 46 secs)
Robyn’s thoughts about escalation of poor health outcomes and prevention of these locally (17 mins 13 secs)
Janet’s thoughts about how to positively effect change (17 mins 49 secs)
Finding out more (19 mins 26 secs)
The Doctors of the World webpage, which contains all of the resources discussed in this episode, including The Safe Surgeries toolkit, can be found here. You can sign up for the initiative here
The Practice Index website is here
For all enquiries about the Practice Index / Ockham podcast, please contact James Dillon here or Ben Gowland here
As we so frequently state, a new era is truly beginning in general practice, with so much on the horizon strategically and operationally. With more and more being demanded from our clinical and management leaders, and three years on since the birth of PCNs, we are seeing widespread changes in leadership teams and the styles required to support and motivate staff, meet the ever-growing demand in terms of patients’ needs, centrally driven targets and the push towards further integration. Thankfully, Tara Humphrey, Founder and Director of THC Primary Care, host of the Business of Healthcare podcast and one of the country’s leading experts in PCN Management, is back in the hot seat to share her own experiences of the transition within her area and to offer advice for those currently living through the same changes and challenges, as well as giving insight into two key programmes which are currently on offer to both seasoned managers and new leaders alike.
Introduction (33 secs)
A new dawn for PCN management (57 secs)
What’s the latest from Tara’s area? (1 min 32 secs)
Reaching the decision to step down (2 mins 11 secs)
When there is a complete change in operational and clinical leadership (2 mins 58 secs)
A reform in leadership style? (3 mins 54 secs)
Escalation of workload (4 mins 32 secs)
Handing over (5 mins 49 secs)
Transitional challenges (6 mins 53 secs)
Tara’s reflections and advice for other areas undergoing the same changes (7 mins 56 secs)
Preserving relationships (9 mins 21 secs)
Finding support as a new Clinical Director (10 mins 53 secs)
The PCN Plus Programme for more experienced leaders (12 mins 1 sec)
How Tara’s PCN Accelerator Programme works for new leaders (13 mins 17 secs)
Course dates and information about sign up (14 mins 53 secs)
Our PCN Plus online programme is now open for registrations! Aimed at seasoned PCN Clinical Directors, our team of experts will deliver training on all the need to knows, including (and not limited to); establishment of a PCN vision, communications, managing finances and workforce, and preparations for integrated care systems. If you are interested in learning more, or you’re keen to sign up, please see our dedicated webpage or you can contact Ben for further information.
If you’re brand new to PCN management, Tara's Online Accelerator Programme is perfect for you. All the details from course content to how to sign up and access the training are contained within the dedicated THC Primary Care page.
We’ve followed the journey of Dr Farzana Hussain, GP lead at The Project Surgery in East London, former 2019 GP of the Year closely over the last three years. Following her recent decision to step down as a Clinical Director, we wanted to revisit her story and find out the reason for her change in direction, particularly while the primary care landscape begins to shift and change once more. In this week’s episode, Farzana gives a typically open and honest account of her reasons for stepping away from Clinical Directorship, where she feels the challenges have been and where they lie ahead, what she has enjoyed most during the last three years, her hopes for the future on a personal level and for general practice, and what new (and seasoned) clinical leaders may need to be mindful of as we step into the brave new world of Integrated Care Systems (ICSs).
Introduction (9 secs)
Farzana’s decision to step down (32 secs)
Moving away from PCNs? (2 mins 15 secs)
Where does the problem lie with PCNs? (2 mins 39 secs)
The tension between central expectation and priorities on the ground (4 mins 21 secs)
What needs to change to enable PCNs to thrive, particularly within the ICS context? (6 mins 32 secs)
Getting the most from PCN investment (8 mins 51 secs)
Adoption of a place-based approach (10 mins 23 secs)
Is a change in mindset needed, where PCNs are concerned? (12 mins 2 secs)
Partnering with local agencies and an increased community-based focus (14 mins 19 secs)
Concern for the future (15 mins 34 secs)
Advice for new PCN Clinical Directors starting out now (16 mins 42 secs)
Farzana’s top three lessons learned (19 mins 8 secs)
What’s next? (20 mins 50 secs)
Our PCN Plus online programme is now open for registrations! Aimed at new PCN Clinical Directors, our team of experts will deliver training on all the need to knows, including (and not limited to); establishment of a PCN vision, communications, managing finances and workforce, and preparations for integrated care systems. If you are interested in learning more, or you’re keen to sign up, please see our dedicated webpage or you can contact Ben for further information.
The announcement of the changes in GP contract heralds a fresh set of challenges for already stretched PCN Clinical leaders, and the need for a bonus edition of our (usually weekly) podcast alongside the introduction of a targeted programme of training. Today’s episode features a seasoned panel of experts; PCN and management guru Tara Humphrey of THC Primary Care, Dr Hussain Gandhi, Clinical Leader, and co-presenter of the eGPlearning Podblast, Dr Andrew Foster, Gandhi’s eGPlearning counterpart, and fellow Nottinghamshire-based Clinical Director, and finally, our very own Ben Gowland. Together, the quartet dissect the announcement, reflect on the changes (and the change in the way the contract has been negotiated), how primary care could and should respond, and why Clinical Directors might feel that now is the right time to upskill further, ahead of the new integrated world and the additional pressures that this may present.
Introduction & Overview (30 secs)
Ben’s immediate reactions to the new GP contract (1 min 19 secs)
Initial thoughts from Tara (3 mins 27 secs)
Andy’s perceptions (5 mins 13 secs)
….and Gandhi’s views (8 mins 49 secs)
Tensions between NHS England and the General Practice Committee (10 mins 45 secs)
Ben discusses the shift in management of contract negotiations (and the fallout) (11 mins 29 secs)
Funding general practice recovery and the response (13 mins)
Tara: why we should focus on building stronger networks and take a more strategic view (14 mins 32 secs)
How the PCN Plus programme can help (15 mins 38 secs)
What might happen next (16 mins 35 secs)
Responding versus reacting (17 mins 42 secs)
A test of diplomacy and resilience in our Clinical Directors (18 mins 20 secs)
How to sign up for PCN Plus (19 mins 45 secs)
The PCN Plus online programme is now open for registrations! Aimed at new PCN Clinical Directors, the team of experts featured in today’s podcast will deliver training on all the need to knows, including (and not limited to); establishment of a PCN vision, communications, managing finances and workforce, and preparations for integrated care systems. If you are interested in learning more, or you’re keen to sign up now, please visit our dedicated webpage or you can contact Ben for further information.
We are shaping up for the new world of integrated care systems (ICSs) and as part of this, the Fuller national stocktake is a live initiative which has been commissioned to appraise how well existing systems work with primary care (and others) to improve integration of patient care. As a senior GP who is leading on the data, population health management, risk stratification and health inequalities workstream, Dr Neil Modha talks to Ben about the scope of the review, how it is being conducted in practice, the influence of the review outcomes on general practice’s place in the new world, and how others can also get involved.
Introduction (41 secs)
How Neil became involved in the review (47 secs)
The purpose of the review (1 min 21 secs)
Is the review focused on PCNs, or is it a more holistic appraisal of primary care as a whole? (2 mins 11 secs)
How is the review being undertaken? (3 mins 15 secs)
Organisation of workstreams and input (3 mins 44 secs)
What are the likely outcomes and how are these measured? (5 mins)
Examples of best practice (6 mins 8 secs)
A focus on improving the interaction between the wider system and primary care (7 mins 18 secs)
PCN & ICS; getting off to the right start (8 mins 5 secs)
Report timeline (8 mins 56 secs)
What happens when the report it released? (9 mins 44 secs)
Maintaining the voice of general practice within a larger healthcare ecosystem (10 mins 25 secs)
The role of PCNs in the new world (11 mins 52 secs)
Shaping the future GP contract (13 mins 38 secs)
Talking sustainability (14 mins 24 secs)
A wider ownership of PCNs? (16 mins 40 secs)
Commissioning and funding deployment going forwards (17 mins 23 secs)
Advice for general practice staff on the PCN effort in light of the upcoming changes (18 mins 18 secs)
Finding out more (20 mins 10 secs)
Responses and input (21 mins 8 secs)
Deadline for feedback (22 mins 18 secs)
If you are interested in getting involved, would like to learn more and / or participate in providing input into The Fuller Review, please email here.
The Fuller Review engagement platform is additionally accessible here.
Our PCN Plus online programme is now open for registrations! Aimed at new PCN Clinical Directors, our team of experts will deliver training on all the need to knows, including (and not limited to); establishment of a PCN vision, communications, managing finances and workforce, and preparations for integrated care systems. If you are interested in learning more, or you’re keen to sign up, please see our dedicated webpage or you can contact Ben for further information.