Incredibly, the Ben Gowland podcast, a weekly podcast looking at innovation and new ways of working in general practice, is approaching a year old. We are taking this opportunity to count down our Top Five most popular podcasts and so highlight some of those you might have missed. So far, we have published 45 episodes…but which ones make it into the Top Five?

In reverse order, the Top Five are…

At Number 5 it’s Rebecca Rosen with Lessons from large scale general practice

In July the Nuffield Trust published a report, “Is Bigger Better? Lessons for large scale general practice”. I talked to Rebecca Rosen, one of the authors, to try and get underneath the implications of the report. One of the things the report found was the limited impact at scale general practice had on quality, and it begged the question as to whether the current mindset that bigger is necessarily better holds up to closer scrutiny. So I was really interested to find out from Rebecca, a practicing GP herself, whether she herself thinks “bigger” general practice is indeed better.

At Number 4 we find Tracey Vell with Trialling the MCP Contract in Manchester

Much has been made (and continues to be made) about the introduction of the new MCP (multispecialty community provider) contract, and in particular why GP partners would give up their existing contracts for one that is time limited and potentially relegates them to the role of salaried employee. Tracey Vell is a GP, LMC chair in Manchester, and the lead general practice negotiator on the introduction of the MCP contract in Manchester, one of the six pilot areas for the new contract. It was only after this conversation that I really understood why GPs are even considering it.

And at Number 3 sits Neil Langridge with physiotherapists in general practice

The introduction of new roles into general practice makes the first of two appearances in our top five at number three. Neil Langridge, a consultant physiotherapist, describes his experience of working in a GP practice, and explains the value physiotherapists can deliver is not in the direct provision of physiotherapy within practices, but in delivering the initial assessment of patient needs. He explains how not only has he diverted considerable work from the GPs, but also the impact he has made on the referral rate to orthopaedics, making the idea attractive to both practices and CCGs alike.

Straight in at Number 2 with a bullet is Jeannie Watkins with Physician Associates

Despite only being published in December this podcast was the fastest downloaded of all, and in less than 3 weeks still made number 2 on our overall list. Having already spoken to real-life physician associates (PAs) Ria Agarwal and Andy King in episode 40 about their experiences working in general practice, in this episode I spoke to Jeannie Watkins, the RCP lead for PAs, about the pipeline of PAs coming through the system and the opportunities this creates for general practice. It turns out while many GPs find the idea of PAs difficult, those that work with them in practice can’t speak highly enough of them and the contribution they make!

And, at Number 1 we have Stewart Smith with the transformation of general practice in St Austell

The runaway leader in terms of number of downloads in 2016 is Dr Stewart Smith, talking about the amazing transformation of general practice in the Cornish town of St Austell. Trouble beset one of the practices in the town and eventually it had to give back its list. What follows is an incredible story of how the other practices in the town responded, and turned what was a crisis into an opportunity to create real transformation. Stewart describes how all the practices in the town merged and took the failing practice over. They then closed it, refurbished it, and reopened it as an acute care hub using a multidisciplinary team to see all the on the day demand from across the town. All within the space of a year!

It has been a fantastic first year for the podcast, and I have had the chance to talk to some amazing people, and find out that, contrary to what we are regularly told, innovation and new ways of working are alive and well in general practice!

We have some great guests lined up for 2017, including the GP behind one single change that is saving GPs up to an hour a day of administration time! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or you can become an Ockham subscriber (here) and we will send you the link to the podcast and this blog every week. And if you know of, or even are involved, in any exciting developments in general practice do get in touch, and maybe you can be the next guest on the podcast and find yourself in next year’s Top Five…