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We are all aware that the practice workload balance is already, or about to, tip over and with this in mind, it is more important than ever to regularly take stock, check in on our colleagues, proactively plan ahead, take our leave (even if it’s not necessarily when we want to!), and if need be, reach out to others for support. With this in mind, our ever-popular Practice Index Practice Manager panel return to the podcast this week and are joined by GP, executive coach, and resilience expert Dr Rachel Morris to dissect and discuss a situation of which unfortunately many of us are more and more likely to identify with, where a GP partner has been forced to cancel leave due to a mixture of demand and a lack of locum availability. How can we avoid the same fate and how do we start to build resilience whilst most of us are feeling very much like we are close to the same level of vulnerability?

Introduction (0:33)

Sourcing locums from a practice manager’s perspective (1:14)

The situation in Kay’s area in Manchester (1:55)

How have we got to a situation where locums are in such high demand? (2:25)

Facing the reality of having to cancel annual leave (3:26)

Working out what you’re in control of and what you’re not (4:29)

Planning leave, proactive rota management and the role of the practice manager (6:21)

Sustainability in a smaller practice (7:31)

Building resilience in larger practices (8:21)

Acknowledging our vulnerabilities and planning for them (9:07)

Added pressure as a GP partner (10:08)

Protecting the workload (10:37)

Support for the wider workforce (11:09)

Collaboration and co-dependence (12:07)

Working out where you can influence and what you can change (13:58)

Why asking for help is not a sign of weakness (15:08)

Buddy practices and increased reliance on others (16:15)

Managing the dearth of GPs and developing practice skill mix (17:26)

Effective communications (18:50)

An analogy of managing patient demand (19:40)

Making the most of the ARRS funding (20:50)

Time management and maximising impact (21:50)

Staff wellbeing is paramount (23:08)

Final thoughts from Robyn and Kay (23:33)

Rachel’s incredibly popular ‘You are not a frog’ podcast can be found here

For all enquiries about the Practice Index / Ockham podcast, please contact James Dillon here or Ben Gowland here

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In another episode documenting general practice preparations for integrated care, we welcome back Dr Jon Griffiths, GP Advisor for Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership, NHS North West Leadership Academy board member, RCGP Mersey Faculty Board deputy council rep and Cheshire LMC member. As part of his GP Advisor role, Jon has worked with colleagues across Cheshire and Merseyside to produce a consensus document focused on the Primary and Secondary Care Interface and improving cohesion and clinical pathways between these two key areas of healthcare. Based on a set of guiding principles and with the aim of establishing a common architecture of good quality, patient-centred communication within the new integrated care systems, Jon talks to Ben about the input from both primary and secondary care, striking a balance between meeting the needs of the wider system and more local requirements, and the key milestones for both sectors when embedding a truly successful system of integrated care.

What is Jonathan’s role and remit right now? (0:23)

Responsibilities of the ICS GP Advisor (0:59)

Myth-busting (3:41)

Primary Care views of secondary care (5:25)

Reaction from the secondary care consultants (8:30)

…and the secondary care ask of general practice (10:45)

Establishing mutual benefit (13:14)

Building consistency across primary care (14:41)

Where does the real opportunity for truly integrated care lie and how do we strike a balance between real-time need and the PCN DES requirements? (15:31)

What is needed to enable a strong and united primary and secondary care interface? (17:07)

Life after CCGs (19:37)

Strengthening GP representation (21:12)

Accessing the consensus (22:07)

The Consensus document is available within the Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership website here.

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As ever, here at Ockham, we are fortunate to have been able to have taken some time out from business as usual to put our feet up and properly digest, review, and summarise the recent Fuller report publication on integrated Primary Care (and what this might look like in the context of the wider Integrated Care world). As with everything, our conclusions are our own and having spoken to our allies over at THC Primary Care, it’s clear that the report can be interpreted in many different ways, depending on who you are, where you sit, what your remit is and how prepared you may (or may not) be feeling ahead of the upcoming transition. In this week’s episode, Ben and THC Primary Care founder and MD, and PCN Management expert Tara Humphrey discuss their key takeaways from the stocktake and what they both feel general practice should be doing right now to ready themselves for integrated primary care, and ICSs beyond.

Introduction (0:09)

Setting the scene…. our differing perspectives (0:19)

Tara and Ben’s initial thoughts (0:29)

What’s missing? (0:45)

Ben’s concerns (1:17)

What would Ben liked to have seen within the report? (2:54)

Shaping the debate (4:46)

A threat to the PCN model as we know it? (5:52)

Tara’s views and getting the most out of a larger network infrastructure (8:03)

Readying general practice, as it stands (9:21)

Acknowledgement of existing constraints and what this means going into an ICS environment (9:58)

Do the recommendations within the report pose a risk to the PCN management structure? (11:06)

General Practice influence at an ICS level (12:44)

The importance of a united primary care voice (14:27)

Time pressures and maintaining influence as a GP leader (15:15)

What should we be doing right now in preparation? (16:55)

Tara’s predictions ahead of the transition (17:47)

Recommendations from Ben (18:53)

Tara advises (19:53)

Navigation of bureaucracy versus responsive decision-making (20:43)

We need you! (21:45)

Next steps for integrating primary care: Fuller stocktake report (final report) is available here.

There is still plenty to discuss where the report is concerned and absolutely no way to cover it all this 22-minute podcast instalment. We are keen to hear views and even better, feature representatives from across general practice on the podcast to discuss the transition into the integrated care, what this feels like from your part of the world and your own take on the Fuller Report. So if you (or your team) are interested in taking part, please contact Ben at ben@ockham.healthcare or get in touch via Twitter.