Episode 271 - Podcast – Taurus Healthcare – Inspiring great leadership in the dawn of Integrated Care Systems
The healthcare landscape is once again changing, and it is expanding rapidly. The age of integrated care systems (ICSs) is almost upon us and with it heralds a new set of challenges for general practice, particularly when it comes to establishing and maintaining effective leadership and enabling sound and unified decision making (which truly represents all local parties). This week, we introduce Dr Mike Hearne and Nisha Sankey, Managing Director and Director of Strategy and PCNs respectively, from the GP federation Taurus Healthcare based in Herefordshire. Both Mike and Nisha have been instrumental in setting up and running the Herefordshire General Practice Leadership Team; a single, decision-making body incorporating Herefordshire’s PCNs, federation, LMCs and CCG teams. Our podcast this week explores their journey; their infrastructure and resources, the decision-making processes in place, the obstacles and challenges they have faced along the way and how and why a single, unified leadership team will be instrumental in the new, integrated world.
Introductions (45 secs)
Taurus Healthcare background and achievements to date (52 secs)
Nisha’s role (2 mins 7 secs)
Relationships between PCNs and federation (2 mins 52 secs)
Taurus infrastructure (3 mins 55 secs)
The General Practice Leadership Team (4 mins 58 secs)
Establishing a recognised decision-making forum (6 mins 56 secs)
Managing pushback and obstacles (7 mins 41 secs)
Non-clinical chairmanship (9 mins 10 secs)
Nisha’s view on impartiality (10 mins 14 secs)
Manging tensions when it comes to decision making (10 mins 47 secs)
Facing future challenges (12 mins 5 secs)
Preserving the views of the group within individual representation (12 mins 54 secs)
Maintaining proactivity in the new world (15 mins 23 secs)
Resourcing and representation within the ICS environment (17 mins 16 secs)
Financial considerations (19 mins 41 secs)
Funding channels (20 mins 24 secs)
Getting in touch / finding out more (21 mins 40 secs)
The team at Taurus Healthcare are more than happy to talk and to share their experiences with others. All their main contact points are shown below:
LAST CALL FOR REMAINING PLACES! Information about the New to General Practice Partnership Training Programme, for those new to partnership or considering going into partnership, can be found here.
The introduction of new roles is not new to general practice, particularly right now, but with the relatively short timeframe that practices have had to adjust to the changes and the challenges following the introduction of the PCNs, it is not surprising that those working in the PCN Manager roles can find it difficult to integrate and engage with local staff. For Practice Managers who have long been used to the autonomy of leading their individual areas and juggling competing demands, the arrival of another manager and entrusting that they can prioritise their practice’s needs can be of concern. In our latest Practice Index / Ockham podcast series, we explore this theme with our resident Practice Management leads, Nicola Davies, and Robyn Clark, and with two experienced PCN Managers, Julie Damon and Tara Humphrey who share their experiences to date. The panel are all in agreement that the Practice Manager / PCN Manager relationship can and should work in harmony, but how can this happen and what can those who are struggling on both sides right now do to improve confidence and maximise the ability to deliver?
Introductions (39 secs)
Julie says hello (1 min 2 secs)
Reintroducing Tara (1 min 31 secs)
Robyn’s relationship with her PCN Manager (2 mins 9 secs)
Nicola’s network (2 mins 43 secs)
Julie’s experiences of working alongside the Practice Managers in her area (3 mins 23 secs)
Building trust with existing practice staff (4 mins 8 secs)
Why keeping in touch is so important (5 mins 13 secs)
The challenges Tara has faced in the past (5 mins 44 secs)
What made things tough? (6 mins 46 secs)
Finding a way through (7 mins 43 secs)
What does the role of the PCN Manager mean for Practice Managers? (8 mins 43 secs)
Nicola’s view (9 mins 34 secs)
Confidence and communication (10 mins 42 secs)
Learning to let go (11 mins 44 secs)
PCN v Practice (12 mins 49 secs)
The challenges of meeting workload demand (15 mins 4 secs)
Advice from Robyn and Nicola for PCN Managers who may be struggling to engage with practice staff (16 mins 55 secs)
Julie and Tara share their wisdom (19 ins 18 secs)
Recommended resources (21 mins 6 secs)
Support from the Institute of General Practice Management (22 mins 18 secs)
Practice Index’s website can be found here
For more information and to sign up to become a member of the IGPM, please find the website here
THC Primary Care’s website can be found here
For all enquiries, please contact James Dillon here or Ben Gowland here
This week’s episode of our additional roles focused series of podcasts features Alliance for Better Care’s multi-talented Chantelle Martin, an Occupational Therapist by background, who made the jump into social prescribing – and back again! Chantelle’s talks to Ben about her experiences of both worlds, her personal journey within general practice, and why she is now a passionate advocate and supporter of a hybrid approach to embedding the additional roles. So much so, that she has is pioneering and leading a joint social prescribing and occupational therapy service in her local area to enhance and complement what is already on offer to practices and patients.
Introduction (46 secs)
All about Chantelle (59 secs)
Jumping from occupational therapy into social prescribing (1 min 47 secs)
Haywards Heath PCN (2 mins 55 secs)
Starting out as the PCN’s first social prescribing link worker (3 mins 31 secs)
Network versus practice (4 mins 11 secs)
The social prescribing role (4 mins 29 secs)
Referral criteria and pathways (5 mins 45 secs)
Moving back to occupational therapy and the birth of a joint service (6 mins 25 secs)
How can social prescribing link workers and OTs work in partnership? (7 mins 36 secs)
Support, supervision, and caseload management (9 mins 4 secs)
A sense of belonging and influence (10 mins 10 secs)
Chantelle’s support network (12 mins 25 secs)
The occupational therapy service (13 mins 8 secs)
Expanding the social prescribing team (14 mins 21 secs)
Are the additional roles attractive enough for potential applicants? (15 mins 15 secs)
Meeting social prescribing referral targets (16 mins 13 secs)
Lessons learned (17 mins 46 secs)
Working as holistic teams, rather than as separate services (19 mins 12 secs)
Recommended resources (20 mins 17 secs)
There are still a couple of places up for grabs on each of the courses Ben is jointly running in September:
For clinical directors looking for some ongoing, structured support, the PCN Clinical Director Mastermind Programme is still open for applications. Click here if you’d like to find out more.
Information about the New to General Practice Partnership Training Programme, for those new to partnership or considering going into partnership, can be found here.
If you’d like to discuss any aspect of the courses which are currently on offer further, please contact Ben at ben@ockham.healthcare
Our Additional Roles podcast series continues and this week we focus on Streatham PCN’s innovative approach to the introduction of Care Coordinators into their network. Streatham PCN Clinical Director Emma Rowley-Conwy joins Ben to give us an insight into their journey; from their initial considerations of how to use the funding once they knew it would be made available, the roles they decided to start with, why they felt the development and promotion of existing practice support staff was the way to go when establishing a care coordination team and crucially, the positive impact they are seeing on patients, practices and network staff across the board.
Introduction (44 secs)
Streatham PCN setup (55 secs)
Streatham’s initial approach to the additional roles scheme (1 min 10 secs)
Practice involvement in development of the Pharmacy roles (2 mins 18 secs)
Expansion from Pharmacists to Care Coordinators (3 mins 9 secs)
Early considerations of how best to use the Care Coordinators (4 mins 41 secs)
Numbers of Care Coordinators in post right now (5 mins 59 secs)
Development of the Care Coordinator roles across the network (6 mins 7 secs)
How are caseloads and referrals managed in practice? (9 mins 13 secs)
Tackling the problem of variation across practices (10 mins 29 secs)
Recruitment process (11 mins 35 secs)
Building the roles and the confidence of the team and establishing consistency (11 mins 50 secs)
Monitoring the impact (13 mins 3 secs)
How are the practices feeling the benefits? (13 mins 30 secs)
Taking the next step (14 mins 58 secs)
Where the additional roles may fit when the new PCN specs are published (16 mins 24 secs)
Lessons learned (16 mins 46 secs)
Support networks (17 mins 59 secs)
There are still a couple of places up for grabs on each of the courses Ben is jointly running in September:
For clinical directors looking for some ongoing, structured support, the PCN Clinical Director Mastermind Programme is still open for applications. Click here if you’d like to find out more.
Information about the New to General Practice Partnership Training Programme, for those new to partnership or considering going into partnership, can be found here.
If you’d like to discuss any aspect of the courses which are currently on offer further, please contact Ben at ben@ockham.healthcare
When you are thinking of entering into general practice partnership, there is a very definite dearth of information and insider knowledge available to potential new partners. There are a number of really crucial factors to consider and some specific information you may require access to, in order to really understand what the expectations are of you and most importantly, whether the partnership is worthy of your investment and how likely you are to succeed in it. Fortunately, Robert McCartney, solicitor, and general practice business consultant, returns to the Ockham sofa this week to cut through the confusion and to give us some clear advice on navigating and negotiating what can be an incredibly tricky path. From property, people and finances to the business, the vision and the culture, this week’s episode gives a much-needed overview and insight into practice partnership for beginners.
Introduction (45 secs)
Primary considerations for those thinking of entering into GP partnership (1 min 14 secs)
Assessing leadership, management, and the level of team engagement within a network (1 min 56 secs)
How important are clearly defined roles within a partnership? (2 mins 51 secs)
The business and the vision (3 mins 44 secs)
Partnership commitment (5 mins 36 secs)
Guidance on governance (6 mins 25 secs)
Recognising red flags where finance is concerned (7 mins 29 secs)
Investment in general practice property (8 mins 59 secs)
What potential GP partners should be mindful of when it comes to property (10 mins 11 secs)
Other property related considerations (11 mins 38 secs)
People and HR (11 mins 59 secs)
Recognising good practices from not so good practices in the current climate (13 mins 13 secs)
Why Practice Management is key (15 mins 38 secs)
The journey to parity (16 mins 33 secs)
Where does the power lie right now? (19 mins 19 secs)
New to Partnership Payment Scheme; negotiating terms and what to expect (20 mins 23 secs)
How the New to General Practice Partnership course can help (21 mins 52 secs)
If this episode has whet your appetite and you’re keen to know more, information about the New to General Practice Partnership Training Programme (and how to sign up) can be found here
If you’d like to discuss any aspect of the course on offer further, please contact Ben at ben@ockham.healthcare or Robert at rm@mccartneyhealth.co.uk