Ben’s special guest this week is Dr Nikki Kanani, one of the chief architects of the new GP contract. Nikki is a GP in south-east London and is currently Director of Primary Care for NHS England. This is the first of two discussions with Nikki and in this part, she explains the role of primary care networks in general practice and looks in detail at the funding behind the new contract. She explains how the money will be delivered and what it will be made available for including 20,000 new staff, support for clinical leadership and investment in innovation. The second part of the discussion will be published next week.

This week Ben is joined by Neha Shah, a Legal Director from Capsticks and Accountant Colin Haw from BHP Chartered Accountants. In this episode they discuss some of the legal, financial and governance issues facing general practice as it begins to establish Primary Care Networks. Specifically they consider how networks will be hosted and the implications for liability, choices around the organisational form, employment contracts, pensions and VAT.

Ross Dyer Smith is a GP Partner with the Hurley Group, a former Darzi Fellow, an expert in online consultations and developer of the GP eHub. He is also an NHS Digital Academy Fellow. In this podcast he talks about how online consultations work, how potential problems can be avoided and the benefits they deliver to GPs and patients. He also explains how the GP eHub operates and how it facilitates online consultations at-scale.

Something different this week; the tables are turned with Ben Gowland in the hot seat explaining the importance of the new GP contract. Ben, presenter of the General Practice Podcast and Principal Consultant for Ockham Healthcare, explains why the new GP contract is a huge opportunity and gives him optimism for the future. He describes the way that the additional £2.8bn attached to the contract will flow, how primary care networks will be developed and how they will be staffed. He also gives practical advice to practices about what they should be doing now, in preparation for the year ahead.