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The General Practice Podcast

Ben Gowland explores new ways of working in general practice. He talks to those making changes happen, gets underneath what they did, how they managed to do it, and the challenges they faced along the way.
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The General Practice Podcast
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Now displaying: August, 2020
Aug 30, 2020

The ability to be resilient, as an individual and as a team, has never been more important, particularly over the last 6 months and it is particularly difficult to maintain resilience during a period of such intense change and unpredictability. Luckily for us, executive coach Janice Steed has agreed to return to the podcast to dissect how resilience applies to Covid, how the changes faced by general practice have truly tested our ability to be resilient and offers a wealth of advice and practical tips on supporting primary care staff through the impacts of Covid - and the positive steps that can be taken to move forward from here.

 

Introduction (31 secs)

Janice’s initial thoughts (48 secs)

The impact of Covid on healthcare more broadly (1 min 35 secs)

….and on primary care staff (2 mins 37 secs)

Different phases of stress throughout the pandemic (3 mins 9 secs)

The ‘prepare’ phase (3 mins 56 secs)

The ‘active’ phase (4 mins 34 secs)

The implications of having low levels of resilience (5 mins 20 secs)

The ‘recovery’ phase and adjusting to life after the acute period of Covid (6 mins)

How do we take forward the positive solutions we have embedded and avoid reverting to old, more comfortable behaviours? (6 mins 50 secs)

Focus on communication, support for others and recognising that we may go backwards before we go forwards again (8 mins 5 secs)

Practical advice on establishing a support forum locally (10 mins 6 secs)

Who should be involved in a support forum? (12 mins 46 secs)

Can a support forum work virtually? (13 mins 4 secs)

The role of facilitator (14 mins 38 secs)

Getting in touch (15 mins 17 secs)

 

For further support and advice, please visit Janice’s website here

Janice is also contactable via janice@steedconsulting.co.uk

Aug 23, 2020

With the publication of a new Asthma UK report about how the use of data and technology can shape and transform the management of asthma in primary care, a wider discussion has now been prompted about how the same principles and recommendations within the report could shape chronic disease management in general practice overall. Dr Minal Bakhai and Dr Andy Whittamore have returned to the podcast to break down the specifics of the report, to share their experiences of implementing some of the recommendations, to discuss how we can better use data and tech to support innovation, how the improvement measures employed now could serve as a springboard for further success and the instant and long term impact on patients with asthma.

 

Introduction (35 secs)

Why has the report been published? (1 min 7 secs)

The current picture of asthma management in the UK and some stats (1 min 22 secs)

What has Asthma UK done so far? (3 mins 6 secs)

Asthma as a gateway condition for trial of tech in chronic disease management (3 mins 58 secs)

Has Covid been a contributing factor? (4 mins 14 secs)

Minal’s view; does asthma hold the key for successful implementation of tech in managing long term conditions? (5 mins 27 secs)

Total digital triage (6 mins 59 secs)

Digital First Primary Care accelerators and the work towards integrated care pathways (8 mins 11 secs)

The Portsdown experience (9 mins 32 secs)

Employing better analytics; what data skills are required? Which data samples should we be focused on? Who is responsible? (10 mins 58 secs)

Other improvement measures that Andy and Portsdown have employed (12 mins 30 secs)

The results of the changes at Portsdown (14 mins 36 secs)

The role of PCNs (15 mins 22 secs)

Minal’s view on the potential for influence and outcomes at PCN level (16 mins 37 secs)

A permanent change in the future of general practice? (18 mins 14 secs)

Resources, guidance, capacity support, accelerated procurement pathways and training – all available from Digital First Primary Care (19 mins 40 secs)

Accessing the report and support from Asthma UK (22 mins 48 secs)

 

Here is the link to the report

Asthma UK: https://www.asthma.org.uk/

Digital First Primary Care home page: https://www.england.nhs.uk/gp/digital-first-primary-care/

Aug 16, 2020

Networks and practices are planning in earnest for a more complex flu vaccination season involving all the normal the challenges of ensuring adequate staffing numbers, facilities and PPE are in place – and the right levels of vaccine are in stock. This year’s campaign is additionally complicated by the confusion about how the immunisation programme can be delivered practically in the era of Covid and the near constant changes in national guidance. This week’s podcast features a panel of experts in Practice Managers Robyn Clark and Nicola Davies who, together with Ben, try to unpick some of the issues and give an insight into their own preparations in order to support others in their planning for winter 2020.

 

A panel of experts (9 secs)

 

Introductions (45 secs)

 

Robyn practice and professional background (1 min 11 secs)

 

Nicola’s PCN, practice and career history (1 min 54 secs)

 

Changes to the flu vaccination programme for 2020 (2 mins 52 secs)

 

Issues with supply (3 mins 51 secs)

 

Staff anxieties (4 mins 11 secs)

 

Flu targets and the eligibility criteria (4 mins 32 secs)

 

Current guidance (5 mins 49 secs)

 

Vaccine demand (6 mins 13 secs)

 

Is there anything we can be doing now to boost our supply? (9 mins 12 secs)

 

Vaccination storage (9 mins 31 secs)

 

Mutual aid (10 mins 9 secs)

 

PPE (11 mins 6 secs)

 

Debating the use of PPE and advice on maintaining stock (13 mins 24 secs)

 

How will administration of the vaccines work in practice? (14 mins 53 secs)

 

Are there benefits to non-clinical staff being trained in vaccine administration? (18 mins 1 sec)

 

Medico-legal implications (18 mins 45 secs)

 

Car park clinics and drive throughs (20 mins 20 secs)

 

Practice versus PCN delivery models (21 mins 44 secs)

 

Data collection and recording information (23 mins 12 secs)

 

Final thoughts (25 mins 27 secs)

 

This episode of the podcast is a joint collaboration between Ockham Healthcare and Practice Index and we’d love to get your thoughts and feedback! To get in touch you can email Ben via ben@ockham.healthcare or James Dillon via james.dillon@practiceindex.co.uk

Aug 9, 2020

It can be tough at the top for many clinical directors but does being in the role as a nurse offer an alternative perspective? Do the challenges differ or are there additional benefits to coming to the role from a slightly different background? Ben Scott is an ANP and Clinical Director for Doncaster South PCN and has taken time out of his busy schedule to speak to us about his experiences from starting life as a professional footballer, to health professional and leader - and his journey to becoming a clinical director.

 

Introductions (33 secs)

An unlikely route into general practice (50 secs)

Ben’s journey as a health service professional (1 min 39 secs)

The transition to general practice (2 mins)

A clinical directorship post beckons (2 mins 34 secs)

Doncaster South PCN: the stats (3 mins 10 secs)

….and the culture (3 mins 47 secs)

Working amongst GPs as a nurse clinical director (4 mins 41 secs)

Does Ben feel he’s had to work harder to establish himself in the leadership role? (5 mins 36 secs)

The experience of other CDs and their influence on Ben (6 mins 25 secs)

Developing as a leader (7 mins 12 secs)

Establishing a support network (7 mins 37 secs)

What are the benefits to being a nurse clinical director? (8 mins 38 secs)

The effect on recruiting additional roles (9 mins 39 secs)

The first year as a CD; focusing on the good and learning from the not so good (11 mins 13 secs)

Lessons learned (12 mins 19 secs)

Overcoming mistrust (12 mins 57 secs)

Words of wisdom for those considering a clinical leadership position (13 mins 41 secs)

Getting in touch (14 mins 38 secs)

 

Ben is contactable via @ScottyANP35

If you want to hear more from Ben, he will be speaking at the Best Practice Show which is taking place in October and is free for all healthcare professionals to attend. You can reserve your place here

Aug 2, 2020

What is population health management, and can it really make a difference? Does it really offer a holistic solution to meeting health needs, supporting better integrated care and relieving day to day pressure on practices and networks? Dr Dan Alton is a GP at the Wargrave Surgery in Berkshire and the Population Health Management (PHM) clinical lead for West Berkshire CCG. In addition, he is an NHS England PHM Champion and has a wealth of experience in applying the PHM principles and is on our sofa this week to shine a light on all things PHM; what it is, how it can be applied at scale yet tailored locally, the lessons he has learned and most importantly, how to realise the benefits.

Introductions (32 secs)

What is Population Health Management (PHM)? (1 min 4 secs)

Joining up data with local knowledge (1 min 25 secs)

Embedding proactive integrated care which meets individual and whole community health needs (2 mins 53 secs)

Dan explains how he became involved in PHM (4 mins)

Finding from the national NHS England wave 1 PHM Development Programme in Berkshire West (5 mins 28 secs)

Resulting interventions (7 mins 16 secs)

The conclusions (8 mins 17 secs)

What were the datasets that led to those interventions and how were they identified? (8 mins 41 secs)

How data can be used effectively regardless of its complexity (9 mins 45 secs)

10% PHM data 90% cultural change (10 mins 21 secs)

How do you convert data into patient conversations? (11 mins 51 secs)

Positive, measurable outcomes as a result of a PHM approach (13 mins 32 secs)

Applying PHM principles in response to Covid (14 mins 38 secs)

Accelerating the process to identify areas of need during the pandemic (17 mins 4 secs)

Can PHM support the development of the PCN? (18 mins 49 secs)

Access to further information and PHM resources (20 mins 16 secs)

 

The NHSE/I PHM Academy website contains a wealth of resources, contacts and materials to support practices and PCNs in engaging with the PHM agenda

The NHS England Population Health Management Development website is here

If you want to hear more from Dan, he will be speaking at the Best Practice Show which is taking place in October and is free for all healthcare professionals to attend – you can reserve your place here

 

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