This week's episode features panel regular Robyn Clark, along with Pete Maynard & Naj Seedat. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Practice Index & this week focuses on the topic of practice managers as partners in GP practices. Robyn and Pete share their personal journeys, recounting their transitions from practice managers to partners. They provide insights into the intricacies of this transition and shed light on the differences they've observed since moving into their partner roles. Naj offers his perspective on the appeal of having business decisions made by management partners, they discuss the resistance some practices encounter and the factors contributing to the reluctance to make practice managers partners. Additionally, they explore whether more practice managers are expressing interest in pursuing this career shift and who should consider taking this path. As the podcast concludes, our experts generously offer valuable advice for those contemplating the journey towards becoming a partner within their GP practice.
Introduction (0:31)
Becoming a Partner (1:04)
Navigating the partnership process (2:15)
Pete's path to partnership (4:43)
Addressing resistance to Practice Managers as Partners (7:10)
Growing interest among Practice Managers (9:21)
Insights from the journey as partners so far (11:48)
The appeal of business partner-led decision making (14:55)
Impact on practice performance and staff perspectives (16:10)
Navigating the complexity of the Practice Manager to Partner relationship (19:17)
IGPM Accreditation Framework (21:24)
Expert Advice for aspiring Partners (22:57)
To visit the Practice Index website, click here or contact James Dillon here.
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
Ben welcomes Robert McCartney back to the podcast. Although Robert has been a guest on the podcast before he has now joined Hempsons as an associate where he focuses on aiding GP mergers and assisting PCNs, helping them form entities. This episode revolves around the relationship between GP Practices and PCNs, highlighting its significance for their future. They discuss the existing challenges that GP Practices and PCNs are facing regarding mergers, whilst also exploring potential strategies to overcome these hurdles and address ongoing disputes. Robert shares insights into his criteria for assessing governance within PCNs, covering aspects such as financial matters, decision-making processes, performance evaluation, staffing, and lastly, clinical governance. Robert wraps up the episode by sharing reflections, suggestions for proactive steps, and advice to facilitate progress moving forward.
Introduction (0:09)
Relationship between Practices & PCNs.. (0:51)
Current issues.. (2:26)
Financial disputes.. (3:56)
Moving forward with disputes.. (4:58)
External support.. (6:08)
PCN funding.. (7:47)
Importance of trust.. (9:50)
Governance within PCN’s.. (10:42)
Minimum level of infrastructure that Robert would expect to see.. (12:42)
Have PCN’s got the minimum level of infrastructure in place? (13:59)
PCN’s going down the incorporation route.. (15:52)
Access the ‘No risk’ of PCNs being scrapped, says NHS England GP lead’ article here (17:21)
Risks of creating distances between organisations .. (18:48)
Practices merging to become PCN size.. (21:25)
Should practices merge in stages or all at once? (22:27)
Robert’s final thoughts.. (24:23)
Robert’s contact details.. (26:19)
Contact Robert via email here.
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
In this week's podcast episode, Ben is accompanied by Su Suehr, Amanda Spooner, and Linzi Fisher. The main focus of their discussion revolves around the recent implementation of the new integrated team lead role. Throughout the podcast they discuss the advantages brought about by this role, and share what the integrated model looks like to Su and Amanda. Additionally, they recount the hurdles they managed to overcome in order to establish this role. Linzi takes the time to discuss her personal journey within the role detailing the obstacles she has encountered but also highlighting how this experience has widened her horizons, and made her feel like a significant contributor. Linzi emphasises her substantial growth and her privileged position to share her insights with the staff, who have exhibited great enthusiasm for the upcoming prospects. The trio outlines their forthcoming objectives, focusing on discovering more avenues for supportive integrated collaboration and further integration. Finally, they share advice for those considering a similar path, drawing from their own transformative journey.
Introduction & how the idea come about.. (0:09)
How did you get talking? (1:45)
Any worry around losing control of staff.. (3:06)
What benefits did the trust gain? (3:51)
What does an integrated model look like to you? (4:31)
What challenges have you overcome? (Su) (5:44)
How does the governance work? (6:28)
What challenges have you overcome? (Amanda).. (7:08)
Resistance to the role.. (8:15)
Linzi’s role.. (10:44)
What’s the experience been like so far? (11:39)
Broadening opportunities.. (12:49)
Working both ways.. (14:53)
Stand out ideas.. (16:09)
Biggest challenges.. (17:16)
How is the role working 4 months in? (18:39)
GP’s reactions.. (19:54)
Is this the beginning of integrated neighbourhood teams? (20:26)
Advice for others.. (21:50)
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
Today, Ben is joined by Rasha Gadelrab, a GP & Medical Educator & Healthcare Engagement Specialist. Rasha kicks off the podcast by sharing her professional journey and how she arrived at her current position. Rasha possesses extensive experience, ranging from working as a biotechnology recruitment consultant to becoming a GP educator, healthcare corporate trainer, workforce well-being and sustainability coach, junior doctor mentor, patient advocate & PCN Social prescribing clinical lead PCN2 Barnet. During their conversation, Ben and Rasha delve into the subject of Barnet PCN, social prescribing link workers, care coordinators, and the innovative concept of health & well-being coaches. Rasha emphasises the crucial elements for maintaining staff and highlights the approaches that have helped bridge the gap between practices and the additional roles. Rasha also takes the opportunity to share her accomplishments and the positive feedback she has received thus far. She expresses her determination to continue the journey of progress and growth, with the hope of further success in the future.
Introduction & Rasha’s career journey (0:09)
About Rasha’s PCN.. (5:24)
Rasha’s official role within the PCN.. (6:42)
How do you ensure staff feel valued? (8:05)
Do you provide supervision for all the teams? (10:33)
Sense of belonging.. (12:02)
SPLW & Care Coordinators job descriptions.. (13:04)
What’s the key to success? (14:54)
Closing the gap between practices & the additional roles.. (15:43)
Self referral.. Generating extra work or making a difference? (18:27)
Positive results so far.. (20:14)
What’s next? (21:11)
SPLW turnover.. (22:30)
Getting in touch.. (24:50)
To contact Rasha directly, please email.
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
This week's episode is focused on tackling abuse in general practice and features insights from our esteemed guest, Mike Neville, brought to you in partnership with Practice Index. Mike is not only a panel member but also holds the positions of LMC Manager Rep, and North West England Regional Rep for the IGM. During the discussion Mike discusses his journey into the role of a practice manager and shares his thoughts around abusive incidents within healthcare practices. Mike sheds light on the pivotal role that support has played in moving general practice towards progress. Furthermore, he elaborates on the strategies he has implemented to curtail instances of abuse, and offers his perspective on how this issue can be enhanced in the future. Mike provides valuable insights into the factors that have had the most substantial impact, outlining his thoughts on managing patients who exhibit abusive behaviour. Mike also shares his recommendations for how you can support your staff and the importance of effective communication within your network.
Introduction (0:09)
How did you get into being a Practice Manager? (1:01)
Types of abuse experienced.. (2:02)
Face to face & online abuse.. (3:22)
Physical abuse.. (4:45)
Incidents acting as a catalyst for action.. (6:10)
Local approach to tackling abuse.. (7:24)
Zero tolerance.. (9:28)
Prevention is better than cure.. (13:05)
How does the zero tolerance policy work? (14:39)
What implications have made the most difference? (16:31)
The roles staff have to play.. (19:21)
Resources Mike recommends.. (21:49)
Getting in touch with Mike.. (23:39)
Contact Mike via twitter ‘miken231’ or contact Mike via email here.
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
In this week's podcast episode, Ben hosts Colin Armstead from George House Trust and Kay Keane from Urban Village Medical Practice, both located in Manchester. The mission of George House Trust is to empower individuals living with HIV, helping them lead healthy and confident lives through the provision of HIV support, advice, and advocacy services. The main topic of discussion revolves around the accessibility of GPs and their understanding regarding individuals living with HIV, with a particular focus on George House Trust's recent report titled 'Towards Positive Practice'. This report involved extensive research and engagement activities aimed at understanding the experiences of people living with HIV when seeking primary healthcare, specifically from GPs. During the podcast, Colin presents the report's findings and outlines the recommendations that have emerged as a result.
Introduction (0:09)
How Kay came across Colin & the George House trust.. (0:54)
GP access for those living with HIV.. (3:03)
Stigma around HIV.. (4:31)
‘Towards Positive Practice’ report.. (5:59)
Kays thoughts on the statistics.. (9:19)
What should we expect GPs to know? (12:59)
Where do responsibilities lie? (14:06)
Partnerships between the HIV clinics & local practices.. (15:55)
Providing access for the people who need it most.. (21:17)
What practices can do to give a better experience for those living with HIV? (23:11)
Find out more.. (24:35)
Visit the George House Trust website here and access the ‘Towards Positive Practice’ report here.
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
Today, Ben is accompanied by Ben Allen, Partner at a Sheffield GP and Clinical Director for primary care in Sheffield, supporting primary care to thrive. During the podcast, they delve into the document that Ben has worked on, titled 'Another General Practice is possible’, a document that has served as a catalyst for initiating change within Ben's practice. Upon joining the practice, Ben immediately recognised the potential for improvement and dedicated considerable time to research and investigation, looking deeper into ways to facilitate change. Ben identified a variety of alterations that could be implemented, including restructuring partner meetings, ensuring everyone is in the right seats, refining the recruitment process and much more. Ben expresses his delight with the positive impact that 'Another General Practice is possible' has already had, reflecting on his accomplishments thus far and sharing his plans for the future.
Introduction (0:09)
Why was change needed? (0:43)
Ben’s beginnings in the practice.. (2:45)
How long was spent on the framework of Another General Practice is possible? (3:55)
Infrastructure around the changes.. (4:24)
Changes to the partner meetings.. (6:57)
Trusting your staff.. (7:35)
Sharing the ownership within the practice.. (8:18)
Understanding the problems before making solutions.. (9:11)
Proactively getting everyone in the right seats.. (11:50)
Wrong person in power within practices.. (12:59)
Changes to recruitment.. (14:10)
Recruiting the right type of people.. (17:33)
Where are we now? (19:31)
Ben’s reflections & what’s next.. (21:01)
How to find out more & get in touch.. (22:29)
To find out more, contact Ben Allen via email or find Ben on twitter ‘BenAllenGP’
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
This week, Ben offers a solo episode where he discusses the future for PCNs and shares his insights on what to expect from March 2024 onwards. During the podcast, he covers various topics, including the NHS long term plan, the 5 year GP contract and the Fuller stocktake report. Ben also addresses the growing unpopularity of PCNs and offers his perspective on the reasons behind this. He sheds light on integrated neighbourhood teams and their implications for the healthcare system. Looking ahead, Ben explores the focus on integration in next year's contract and the existing gap between General Practice and the rest of the healthcare system. He provides valuable insights into what aspects we should and shouldn't be concerned about once the contract concludes in March next year. Ben ends the episode by emphasising the importance of taking proactive steps now to address the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
Introduction - what is the future of PCNs? (0:09)
The Context:
The NHS Long Term Plan.. (1:12)
The new five-year GP contract (2.37)
Fuller Stocktake report (4:25)
Integrated Care Systems.. (5:52)
Noise Re: nationalisation of General Practice.. (6:49)
Where are we now? (8:18)
An increase in the unpopularity of PCNs.. (9:54)
Integrated Neighbourhood Teams.. (11:10)
Next year's contract? (12:23)
What does all this mean? (13:33)
What should we be worried about from March next year? (14:41)
What shouldn’t we be worried about from March next year? (16:58)
What do we do now? (18:30)
Listen to Matthew Winn – ICS Incoming…. Primary Care and Community Trusts here.
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
This week's episode features discussions led by our Practice Index sponsored panel members Jo Wadey, Robyn Clark, and Nicola Davies. This episode focuses on the 'NHS Long Term Workforce Plan'. They delve into the positive aspects associated with the long-term plan while also addressing the concerns they have since its publication. The panel members discuss recruitment within practices, the incorporation of additional roles and the allocation of funding. Jo, Robyn, and Nicola highlight the benefits of the long-term plan; however, they also express their apprehensions regarding the absence of any specific mention of management within the practices. Ben ends the discussion by asking for the IGPMs response to the plan.
Introduction & thoughts on the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (0:09)
Recruiting trainees & apprentices.. (1:59)
The panel's opinions on the plans for GP recruitment.. (4:01)
Increasing specialist doctors in GPs.. (5:34)
Would you recruit a specialist doctor in your practice? (8:02)
Additional roles & funding.. (11:03)
The issue of pay.. (14:13)
NHS Long Term Workforce Plan not referencing GP managers.. (15:05)
Government vs local support? (18:20)
IGPM response to the plan.. (24:12)
To visit the Practice Index website, click here or contact James Dillon here.
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
On this week's Ockham podcast Ben welcomes Kay Keane, Anthony Verrall and Shaun Jackson from Urban Village Medical Practice. Together they delve into the beginnings of Urban Village and discuss how the practice has progressed. Originally Urban Village focused on facilitating registration for homeless individuals in Manchester but has since expanded its scope to provide further assistance to the homeless population. The practice now offers a wide range of primary healthcare services along with other essential support. By following a ‘needs led’ approach Urban Village provides homeless individuals access to various professionals and services including drug and alcohol workers, counsellors, CPNs, nurses, GPs and midwives. Additionally, they offer referrals to secondary care services, housing advice agencies, and outreach programs.
Introduction (0:09)
How Urban Village started.. (0:58)
What has evolved within the practice (5:00)
Anthony shares his experience within the team.. (7:09)
Working together in one location.. (8:53)
Progress within integrated care.. (13:31)
How has Urban Village progressed? (14:34)
Outreach service van.. (16:41)
Kay’s thoughts on Urban Village.. (18:43)
What’s next for Urban Village? (20:34)
Where to find out more? (23:07)
Visit Charity Pathway charity organisation & Urban Village Medical Practice website & to find out more contact Kay Keane here.
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
This week's podcast features a conversation between host Ben and Dustyn Saint from 'Primary Care IT,' where they discuss the recent projects Dustyn has been engaged in. Dustyn shares information about charity ‘EMIS National User Group’ (EMIS NUG) and what Primary Care IT have been doing to support EMIS NUG. Dustyn, along with the Primary Care IT team have been collaborating with EMIS NUG on ‘EduNUG’, which involves creating videos and conducting interactive sessions with Q&As. The live sessions cover a broad range of topics, allowing for in-depth discussions, on-screen demonstrations, and real-time Q&A opportunities. To enhance accessibility and convenience, the EMIS NUG website now hosts a collection of resources, including materials for induction training, answers from past Q&A sessions and specialised training for specific roles. Dustyn also shares the positive feedback they have received thus far and highlights the ongoing evolution of the service. Finally, Dustyn elaborates on his plans for the upcoming year..
Introduction (0:09)
What is EMIS NUG? (0:39)
How to join EMIS.. (1:33)
Dustyn’s relationship with EMIS NUG (2:21)
Information about the training resources (EduNUG).. (2:41)
Most common questions about EMIS.. (4:20)
EduNUG sessions.. (4:48)
Catalogue of resources.. (5:52)
Specific resources for induction training.. (6:56)
How is the training organised to cover all roles? (7:57)
Feedback so far.. (8:56)
Plans for the year ahead.. (9:26)
PCIT Toolset.. (9:55)
Work completed & results received in North West London (11:40)
How did the alerts work? (13:58)
Evolving the service.. (14:49)
Outcomes.. (15:32)
Are we progressing with data reporting? (18:09)
The correct scale of investments for data reporting... (19:14)
To find out more.. (22:21)
Visit Primary Care website here or EMIS National User Group website here. To access the Primary Care IT blog, visit here.
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
Clare Sieber returns to the podcast along with Oscar Mathew to discuss ‘The Well-Led Practice’, a leadership & team self-development platform for practices and PCNs. Clare is a GP based in West Sussex, she also mediates partnership and PCN disputes. Oscar used to be a GMC barrister and now mediates with front line healthcare teams. The pair now also work together on ‘The Well-Led Practice platform’ which uses anonymous data gathered from the leadership team, and wider staff, to understand the team's strengths and areas for development. They discuss how the platform works, why teams are using it, and how it can help practices get through the CQC.
Introduction (0:09)
Most interesting GMC case.. (1:54)
Advice for GMC investigations.. (2:34)
The Well-Led Practice platform (3:38)
Why teams are using ‘The Well-Led Practice’ platform (6:29)
How does the platform work? (7.27)
Common development needs for Practices.. (9:45)
Understanding the different leadership styles.. (10:45)
Tensions between partners.. (12:54)
Differences between Practices & PCN’s using the platform.. (15:52)
Is the CQC investigating PCN’s? (17:26)
Impacts of using the platform.. (18:57)
Costs & available funding for ‘The Well-Led Practice’ platform (20:37)
How to find out more.. (22:00)
Visit the platforms website here or email here.
To listen to Ben & Clares previous podcasts, use the links below;
Podcast – Clare Sieber – Resolving conflict within General Practice
Podcast – Clare Sieber – An insight into the General Practice Committee
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
We return this week with another instalment from our Practice Index sponsored Practice Manager panel members Robyn Clark and Nicola Davies, who feature alongside fellow podcast favourite Dr Hussain Gandhi, Clinical Director for Nottingham City East PCN and eGPlearning guru. Ben was keen to gauge the group's reaction to the recent changes in contractual requirements to ensure same-day contact with patients and how this can possibly be met in an environment where many practices are struggling with recruitment of receptionists, management of training in care navigation, staff wellbeing and the ongoing mismatch in patient expectations and media perception.
Introduction (0.34)
Gandhi's initial thoughts (0.50)
Embedding the total triage model (1.11)
The importance of patient education (1.55)
Where do we stand re. patient engagement? (2.27)
A lack of support centrally - and from the media at large (3.19)
Knock-on effect (3.39)
Direction from ICBs and local systems (4.48)
Why total triage won't work in every practice (6.08)
Having permission to develop a system which works for individual patient populations (6.49)
Is this contractual change more impactful than the capacity and access plans we have to submit? How is Gandhi managing this in his area, within his capacity as Clinical Director? (7.19)
Empowerment of reception teams and enablement of the care navigation role (9.11)
Concern re. public perception of reception staff (10.50)
What's being offered in terms of upskilling reception teams? (11.52)
Challenges of recruitment (13.05)
Moving the care navigation initiative forward (13.43)
Support from secondary care colleagues (15.07)
Referrals back to primary care (16.09)
Dissecting the BMA response (17.05)
Protection of primary care staff wellbeing and working within safe limits (18.50)
A mismatch in expectations (20.00)
Positive advice for practices from Robyn (20.49)
Strength in numbers (22.37)
Continuous engagement with ICBs (23.21)
Working as a network (24.44)
For more information about NHS England's Looking after you too scheme, click here
Check out eGPlearning for tons of resources to help practices and networks to navigate the new contractual obligations
To visit the Practice Index website, click here or contact James Dillon here.
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
Ben is joined by both Geraldine Hoban, managing director & Philip Wallek, clinical director, who are colleagues at Foundry Healthcare surgery in Lewes. Foundry Healthcare Lewes is a NHS Primary Care Network, the ‘new normal’ for Lewes surgeries who have come together to improve GP and other healthcare services in Lewes and surrounding areas. They discuss how it all started and how they explored merging the practices, looking into sharing staff and funding as well as holding on to the best parts of the existing ways of working within each practice. Geraldine & Philip describe the ‘transform model of care’, the journey they have had to go on to get there and how this has impacted the practice and the patients.
Introduction (0:09)
Where it all started.. (0:53)
Was merging an enabler? (3:01)
Working together as three practices.. (4:51)
Geralines involvement.. (5:41)
What is the transform model of care? (7:32)
Next steps.. (9:44)
How to categorise patients? (11:29)
How this affects patients.. (13:15)
Single access system for combined practices.. (14:36)
How triaging works.. (16:10)
How are the additional roles used? (18:44)
Thoughts on the future for patients.. (19:53)
Impact on the practice and patients.. (22:18)
What obstacles have you overcome so far? (24:22)
Looking back.. (29:09)
Philip’s advice.. (31:54)
Geraldine’s advice.. (33:09)
How to find more information.. (34:04)
Visit the Foundry Healthcare Lewes website here.
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
This week Ben is joined by David McKenzie, GP Rudgwick Medical Centre based in North West Sussex. David has been spending his time developing an automation system, ABC insights, that he believes will be helpful to GPs and patients moving forward. David explains how ABC works, the barriers he has faced so far with the system and what the future looks like for ABC. David has developed ABC himself and describes the pros and cons of doing a ‘self build’. Finally, David shares his experience of implementing ABC in his own GP practice and how it has improved the quality of his time with patients and saved time for himself and others within the practice.
Introduction (0:09)
What caused David to create ABC insights.. (1:29)
David shares examples.. (2:15)
How does the developed automation work? (3:35)
What’s been automated so far? (4:53)
How does it integrate with other systems? (5:56)
Why choose to self develop.. (6:47)
Who is using this so far? (8:21)
Issues David has found so far.. (8:57)
Barriers David has faced.. (10:23)
Feedback from patients so far? (13:42)
Thoughts for ABC’s future.. (15:23)
How are you managing the growth of ABC? (18:58)
How to find out more about ABC.. (20:18)
Email David for more information about ABC here
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
In today’s episode we are delighted to bring together Tara Humphrey, Dr Naj Seedat, Robert McCartney & podcast host Ben Gowland, who collectively run the ‘New to General Practice Partnership Training Programme’. They discuss the growing influence of PCNs on GP practices, and what this means for GP partners. The group reflect on what partnerships in general practice look like at the moment, how new partners can find their feet when arriving at a new practice and how to avoid tensions within partnerships. The 4 course presenters explain how all this is covered in the New to General Practice Partnership programme,, as well as sharing more details about the course, how it works and the value it provides for participants.
Introduction (0:09)
What does general practices partnership look like at the moment? (0:34)
What key messages would you be giving to new GP partners? (2:41)
What conversations are you having and how are PCN’s impacting practices? (4:00)
How do new GP partners find their place in a new partnership? (5:34)
Ben’s top tips for new GPs partners? (6:50)
How do GP partners avoid the financial tensions? (8:33)
The ‘New to General Practice Partnership Training Programme’ & how their partnership works (13:25)
Feedback from a previous session.. (15:05)
Ben’s recent blog post.. (16:25)
More on the programme.. (17:28)
Managing staff.. (18:03)
Final words.. (20:28)
How to find out more about the ‘New to General Practice Partnership Training Programme’ (21:32)
Access the ‘New to General Practice Partnership Training Programme’ here.
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
In May’s monthly Practice Index episode Ben has a full house & is joined by panel regulars, Susi O’Brien & Robyn Clark. Ben, Susi & Robyn are also joined by Claire Houston. They jump straight into discussing staff wellbeing & retention and it’s importance within practices. They also discuss how crucial the retention of staff is, how it can be difficult for staff in ‘additional roles’ and what they can do to make a difference to wellbeing & retention in practices. They look into the new ‘QOF’, quality improvement modules and their thoughts on this being introduced. Finally, Susi, Robyn & Claire share their advice for making peer support work within practices and Susi talks through the wellbeing & retention resources that are available (all resources mentioned are linked below).
Introduction (0:27)
Thoughts on the contract focus on Welling & retention? (0:42)
Why is it important we look after our staff? (1:45)
Practice managers thoughts on this right now.. (3:00)
Retaining staff.. (3:25)
What can we do about it? (3:53)
Difficulty with ‘additional roles’ (5:26)
Learning from the wider HR community.. (6:27)
What can make the biggest difference? Susi’s thoughts.. (7:32)
Claire & Robyns thoughts.. (8:47)
QOF quality improvement modules... (11:06)
Robyns thoughts.. (12:54)
Making the most of the opportunity (13:37)
Difference between the 2 approaches to wellbeing.. (15:39)
Starting with an organisation wellbeing approach.. (17:43)
3 elements.. (18:30)
Experience with peer support networks.. (21:10)
Advice for making it work? (22:30)
Support & resources available.. (23:31)
‘QOF’, quality improvement modules (Quality and Outcomes Framework guidance for 2023/24)
All the links mentioned by Susi on the podcast are contained within this Practice Index document on employee retention (linked).
To visit the Practice Index website, click here or contact James Dillon here.
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
Today Ben is joined by Trish Hawitt Palmer, Practice Manager at Acorns Surgery in Huntington and Lisa Drake, director of quality services and improvement at Redmore Health. They discuss ‘the digital journey planner’. This is a place for general practice staff to complete a self-assessment that is intended to help practices understand all of the elements required to deliver high quality, safe online services in the most effective way. The planner includes a number of modules, each describing the benefits of working this way and starts with a checklist of questions as an assessment. Lisa shares how she started using the digital journey planner and what her experience with it has been so far. They talk; examples, costs, their advice and how to find the digital journey planner.
Introduction (0:09)
The digital journey planner.. (1:02)
Is it nationally available? (3:24)
Does it link to the new GP access recovery plan? (4:22)
Hand holding examples.. (6:00)
How does the Digital Journey Planner work? (7:14)
How Trish started using the Digital Journey Planner.. (8:16)
Trish’s experience so far.. (9:03)
Implementing the Digital Journey Planner (10:15)
Experience with online consultations & cloud telephony.. (12:06)
Does the Digital Journey Planner work at a PCN level? (14:22)
Digital & transformation leads.. (16:19)
Outputs of the Digital Journey Planner (17:49)
Words of advice.. (18:20)
How to access the Digital Journey Planner... (20:46)
Free tools.. (22:42)
How to find the Digital Journey Planner & contact Lisa.. (23:18)
How the Digital Journey Planner can help the Digital & Transformation Lead
To create an account for the digital journey planner, email hello@redmoorhealth.co.uk or lisa@redmoorhealth.co.uk. Just mention Ockham in the subject of the email.
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
Ben welcomes back podcast favourite, Sheinaz Stansfield for the first time in a while. Sheinaz is a partner at Oxford Terrace and Rawling Road Medical Group, director of transformation for Birtley and Central Gateshead PCN and she continues to work with the GP transformation team at NHS England. Sheinaz shares her experience regarding ‘Better health at work’ and how the involvement has improved mental health and wellbeing within her own workforce. The Better Health at Work Award recognises the efforts of employers in the North East and Cumbria in addressing health issues within the practice.
Introduction (0:09)
Thoughts on the The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF).. (0:46)
Core challenges behind looking after our staff.. (1:26)
Where did Sheinaz start in terms of improving mental health for staff? (2:24)
Challenges within the workforce.. (3:46)
Better Health at work (5:53)
What's involved in Better Health at work? (6:33)
Action plan.. (7:26)
HR processes.. (8:14)
Examples of changes within Sheinaz’s practice.. (10:22)
Importance of listening to staff.. (11:04)
Covid impact within the practice.. (12:37)
Continuing with new changes? (13:32)
Feedback from staff.. (15:14)
Impact on the practice? (16:13)
Costings.. (17:06)
Thoughts on Health & Wellbeing coaches? (18:02)
Sheinaz shares her advice.. (19:16)
How to get in touch & where to find further information (22:06)
Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) cycles and the model for improvement
For further questions for Sheinaz please contact Ben Gowland here.
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
This week, Ben is joined by Najib Seedat & Andy Pow. They met at the end of April 2023 to discuss the new 2023/2024 contract that has been imposed on general practice for the 5th and final year of the 5 year deal. They share their thoughts on PCNs & General Practice working together, how it works in terms of funding and how PCNs and general practices can get the balance right. They deliberate the reintroduced requirements for GP’s to declare their earnings above a threshold, how this could affect General Practices and what this requirement is trying to achieve. Andy kindly finishes the episode by sharing some advice for practices to help mitigate some cost pressures.
Introduction (0:09)
Thoughts on the imposed terms… (0:40)
Impact on practices? (2:53)
Investment through PCNs.. (5:40)
Introduced access changes.. (8:48)
Insights into the General Practice access recovery plan.. (10:40)
Redirection of care.. (12:31)
Requirements for GP’s to declare earnings.. (13:45)
Potential consequences of not declaring earnings.. (18:27)
Calculations of earnings.. (20:15)
Reaction to this year's contract.. (21:56)
Tips to help mitigate cost pressures (26:22)
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
In this month’s Practice Index sponsored panel episode, Ben is reunited with Nicola Davies and Robyn Clark. Ben, Nicola, and Robyn discuss the new contractual requirements and how they will impact practices moving forward. Nicola and Robyn look at the year ahead and what their priorities will be during this tough time. They touch on some difficult subjects such as underfunding, pay and taking care of the staff's wellbeing within the practices. Robyn finishes the podcast on a positive note by sharing some ideas for the future and having patients help to save general practices.
Introduction (0:09)
How is life in General Practice at the moment? (0:50)
Robyn & Nicola share their views on the new contract.. (1:43)
Funding... (2:52)
Patients' expectations... (4:52)
Disconnect between the messages to the public & practices.. (6:14)
The year ahead.. (8:15)
Introduction of cloud based telephony.. (9:34)
Inflation compared to pay rises.. (12:01)
Collective action or practice by practice basis? (14:08)
Publishing salaries above £159k.. (14:56)
Thoughts on the Hewitt review.. (18:53)
Thoughts on the future.. (20:23)
To visit the Practice Index website, click here or contact James Dillon here.
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
In this episode Ben is joined by GPs Caroline Baker & Lavan Baskaran, both looking to find ways to improve their GPs lifestyle through triage. Rapid Health uses intelligent software to assess patient needs at first contact, to then navigate them to the right care – all based on the individual practices rules and availability. Ben discusses Rapid Health with both Caroline & Lavan, who are at different stages of introducing Rapid Health into their practices. They share their personal experience with Rapid Health, how patients and staff have reacted to it since it’s been introduced and how it’s working in their practices so far.
Introduction (0:09)
Experiences with Rapid Health so far? (0:54)
Personalising Rapid Health (5:16)
Navigating and prioritising patients.. (6:32)
How to organise routes for patients in your practices? (10:41)
Patients' reaction to Rapid Health? (12:18)
Staffs’ reaction to Rapid Health? (13:48)
How did you initially introduce Rapid Health? (Lavan) (15:03)
Shift in percentage of urgent appointments? (18:38)
PCN access plan.. (22:27)
Is previous experience making people nervous for Rapid Health? (25:25)
Were there initial hurdles? (26:53)
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
Today, Ben is joined by both Conor Burke and Simon Abrams from Urgent Health UK. UHUK is a long-standing membership organisation, committed to providing the highest quality of care for patients. UHUK’s members provide out-of-hours and clinical assessment services whilst sharing expertise and knowledge amongst the members, as well as benchmarking their quality against each other. Ben, Conor & Simon discuss the recent changes, how they have affected their members and the potential tension it could cause between members and General Practices. Conor and Simon kindly share their advice for PCNs and Practices who want to create partnerships in the future.
Introduction (0:09)
UHUKs organisations (0:52)
Organisations involvement (2:21)
Simon's role (3:29)
Have the changes impacted UHUKs members? (4:47)
Potential tension between UHUK members and General Practices (5:45)
Thoughts around same day access.. (9:00)
Advice for PCNs & General Practices who want to create partnerships? (15:10)
Could future changes help partnerships grow? (16:59)
What makes partnerships difficult? (20:24)
Visit the UHUK website here.
Conor and Simon can be contacted using the following email address’ conor.burke6@nhs.net & simon.abrams@nhs.net.
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
This week Ben is joined by Dr Ollie Hart. Ollie has been a GP for over 20 years and is a clinical director of Heeley Plus PCN. Alongside this, Ollie is a director of a health coaching training company called Peak Health Coaching. Peak Health Coaching deliver PCI accredited health coach training and have trained hundreds of health coaches across the UK. During the podcast Ben and Ollie discuss how health coaching could help practices and PCNs improve health outcomes. In addition Ollie talks about his interest in pain management and speaks more about how he got into the health coaching world. Ollie shares information about the upcoming national conference he is holding on May 16th, what attendees can expect and how you can purchase tickets to the conference.
Introduction (0:09)
How Ollie first got into Health Coaching.. (0:58)
Applying Health Coaching into the GP role.. (1:55)
What works well? (2:50)
Ollie’s examples.. (4:01)
Is this approach practical in General Practice? (5:08)
Impacts ARR’s have made.. (6:17)
Ollie's tips for GPs with health coaches in place (7:11)
Are health coaches getting the right patients? (8:22)
What patients would benefit from health coaching? (9:15)
Is weight loss a good focus for health coaches? (10:17)
Thoughts on GP’s current model.. (11:14)
Ollie’s approach to health coaching in his PCN.. (13:01)
Resistance to health coaching.. (14:44)
Peak health coaching.. (16:36)
Who have you trained so far? (17:47)
Peak Health Coaching’s first national conference.. (18:39)
Further information about the conference.. (19:29)
Ben & Ollie discuss their views on health coaching.. (20:17)
For more information on the conference, visit their website here.
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.
In this month’s Practice Index sponsored panel episode Ben is joined by panel regular Robyn Clark, and HR expert Susi O’Brien. They discuss what life is like in practices now following the GP contract update and reflect on the potential future pressures for practices. They consider the funding that is going to be provided, what the time ahead could look like for GP practices and what changes may need to be made. Susi explains how to decide the best options for the practices and how to manage changes through open engagement with employees. Robyn and Susi share their concerns around the new contract and how practices will cope with the new requirements alongside limited funding.
Introduction (0:09)
Life in practices following the GP contract letters (0:51)
Funding for practices.. (1:38)
Effects of the funding (3:49)
What changes are practices considering? (4:51)
How to go about introducing the changes? (6:00)
Openness within the GP practices (9:00)
How to start thinking about your options? (10:45)
Changing employee terms & conditions.. (12:25)
Making redundancies fair.. (14:59)
Lessons learnt from previous experience? (16:36)
Legal perspective around GP’s striking? (18:00)
What action is needed? (19:07)
Last words of advice.. (20:52)
To visit the Practice Index website, click here or contact James Dillon here.
For all enquiries about the Ockham podcast, please contact Ben Gowland here.