General
Kings Fund report: "Making change will require a fundamental shift in approach"
Like much of the NHS, Primary Care is facing a time of change and challenges, with issues being exacerbated by a lack of funds and a shortage of potential staff. This week the King’s Fund published their ‘Better value in the NHS’ report...
General
Five Year Forward View explained
With funding towards the Five Year Forward View (FYFV) resting on the general elections in May, the plan should start taking shape from this April. While prevention is the main focus of the FYFV, the 36 page document provided by NHS shows that plans are much more complex than this alone.
General
Understanding changes to the NHS Pension Fund
Changes are being introduced to the NHS Pension fund next week, and whilst Practice Managers are not licensed financial advisors (though your job description seems to include ‘being an expert in everything’), you are likely to face questions about the changes...
Management
The Secret Diary of a Practice Manager Part 20
I sometimes wonder where the government/NHS gets their ideas from. I have always felt that the Friends and Family Test (FFT) was a waste of time and money. Please correct me if I am wrong or have missed the whole point of it, but it has now - in my eyes - become farcical...
General
The Secret Diary of a Practice Manager Part 19
They say a week is a long time in politics; well the same applies for the NHS.I am writing this blog on receipt of the 17th of September FPM weekly bulletin. On looking at the updated news section, it all looks doom and gloom for general practice. If I took everything at its face value...
General
Friends and Family Test – Update
As you know the FFT will be introduced as a contractual requirement from 1st December 2014. Rhian and I were invited to NHS England last week for an update on the Friends and Family Test which we thought would be a useful way to gather more information...
General
Fat Cats
Anyone old enough to enjoy the original series of “Top Cat” will realise that I am not referring to Benny the Ball. Every so often the newspapers pick up on yet another vast salary or payout hidden within the depths of the NHS and I have read of another in the FPM headlines recently...
General
Perception and Misconception
It is quite difficult, short of a direct information request, to find out what the breakdown of members is in the BMA. Out of 7 GPs in my practice (and a good many others who I have known and have been and gone in the last few years) I only came across one BMA member...
Management
The Secret Diary of a Practice Manager Part 16
Things are changing, but are they for the better? We are all well aware that you can’t go a day without the press or a politician making a remark about GPs being part of the NHS problem and that more changes are needed to make it work. So we are told we should be working 8:00 till 8:00pm...
Finance
The Sacred Cow
The BMA has knocked the concept of charging for a GP appointment on the head. I pay to see my NHS dentist and he delivers pain. I don’t like it, (the cost I mean) but it is a fact of life, so I accept it. If he had decent premises rather than an old terraced house with ultra-steep stairs...
Care Quality Commission
The Ongoing CQC Consultation
I would hope that all practices are, by now, aware of the changes happening in regard to CQC regulation and inspections. The pilot projects in 12 CCG areas are now underway and inspections are beginning to take place. We will, hopefully, know some of the results of these in July...
General
Has NICE had its day?
Recent news that NICE has once again snookered a new cancer drug on the basis of cost is a despairing blow to the thousands of families across the UK hit by cancer every year. I’m not talking about breast cancer here specifically, or even the drug trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcla)...
General
Selling my Data Down the River
I read today that details of my last hospital admission have been sold by the NHS to a private marketing company along with the records of 99,999,999 other patients. Ok so my address and name were removed, but the Health & Social Care Information Centre admits...
Management
It’s the same old circle of life
I remember some 30–35 years ago back in a previous existence working in a branch of a major bank that performance, experience and sound judgement actually counted for something. We had procedural manuals – lots of them – about three inches thick each...
General
England Update: Let's take stock and look forward
At the beginning of the year I think we all take stock and review what has happened and what is going to happen during the next few months.One cannot say that the change from PCT to CCG has been smooth but after early trouble the shoots of a better working relationship are being seen...
Finance
Practice income published from this summer
So practice income is to be published from this summer? What a revelation. I still think there is nothing new on this planet. Whatever happened to the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act, around for donkeys years now, and the rather controversial requirement that not only do practices have to have a “publication scheme” but they also have to make available details of practice income. What’s that? Oh yes I remember now. If I want to bore myself rigid by looking at my GPs flu jab income I can do with...
General
A Faster, More Efficient Website for Sleaford Medical Group
Sleaford Medical Group has a practice that looks after patients from Sleaford and the surrounding areas. With around 18,500 registered patients, the practice has a team of healthcare professionals and offers a number of clinics and services to promote good health and wellbeing...
General
Practice Manager Job Satisfaction Survey Infographic
The results are in for the FPM Practice Manager Job Satisfaction survey. We would like to thank all those who contributed to the survey. For a quick reference we have put together an Infographic to display some of the top line results. Keep your eyes on the FPM blog...
Primary Care Training
Thornfields Launches Two New Courses
Practice management has changed dramatically since its inception in the 1970’s – and changed again since the creation of the GMS 2 contract in 2003. If you look back to the competence framework developed for practice management at the time...
General
The Secret Diary of a Practice Manager Part 6
So have things really improved with the new CCG organisation set up within the NHS? Are these changes likely to produce any savings for the NHS? More importantly will it improve patient care?Well in my opinion I cannot see anything yet to think that anything has...
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