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Locum Chambers are groups of local locum GPs who work together through a shared management structure to support GP practices in a local area. If your area does not have one, Ben Gowland outlines 10 reasons why you should.
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One in four GPs is a locum. A local locum GP chambers can be incredibly effective in recruiting and retaining locum GPs into an area and in this podcast we hear from Richard Fieldhouse, a locum GP who developed the first Locum GP Chambers and helped set up the National Association of Sessional GPs. He tells Ben what a Chambers is, how it works and how it benefits practices and sessional GPs.
This is the first in a short series of podcasts devoted to locum GP chambers; how they work and how they benefit the GPs who join them. In future episodes we will be hearing three very different GP stories from locum GPs and in the final episode we discuss the pros and the cons of chambers. You can contribute to this final episode by sending your questions to Ben at ben@ockham.healthcare
Show Notes
Richard explains the history of his decision to become a locum GP for 20 years (1mins 07secs)
The isolation of being a locum in an established practice turns Richard on to the idea of locum GP chambers (2mins 17secs)
The creation of the NASGP or National Association of Sessional GPs (3mins 11secs)
A groups of locums get together and develop the detail of a GP locum chambers (4mins 21secs)
How a GP locum chambers operates (4mins 55secs)
The model expands and rolls out across the country (6mins 03secs)
The chambers have a local focus (6mins 35secs)
The size of a living room dictates the size of the chambers! (7mins 06secs)
The number of practices covered by a chambers (7mins 22secs)
The benefits to practices of using a locum chambers (7mins 36secs)
Having a chambers attracts and retains GPs (8mins 48secs)
Chambers only work if the locums have control (9mins 51secs)
How the locum GPs set the charges (10mins 25secs)
The difference between chambers and a pool of salaried GPs (11mins 09secs)
CCGs and federations can support setting up a chambers (11mins 50secs)
Interested parties can contact Richard via e-mail at Richard.fieldhouse@pallantmedical.org.uk or via the Pallant Medical Chambers website at www.pallantmedical.org.uk (13mins 43secs)
Chambers can ensure the more effective use of locums (14mins 06secs)
Ben outlines the rest of the series of podcasts on GP locum chambers (15mins 44secs)
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Increasing GP cynicism about the Government’s Forward View is understandable, argues Ben Gowland in his latest audioblog and, without a clear financial plan, the criticisms can only increase.
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Nigel Grinstead is one of the UK’s foremost experts on General Practice operating at scale. He has been involved in most of the country’s largest and most successful GP partnerships. In this episode of our podcast he talks to Ben about the benefits and challenges of General Practice at scale and launches the new Provider Exchange website.
Show Notes
Nigel explains his transition from British Airways to the NHS and thence to General Practice (54secs)
Future-proofing new models of care in General Practice (1min 54secs)
The history of practices working at scale (3mins 46secs)
Operating at scale through mergers is only one answer (5mins 25secs)
To be a successful provider company you need to work at scale and have mature commissioners (7mins 06secs)
We need to liberate clinical leaders and reform CCGs (9mins 07secs)
Should GPs focus on provision? (10mins 47secs)
What support is available for GPs wanting to work at scale? (11mins 34secs)
Advice for practices facing recruitment and workload challenges (13mins 03secs)
Lessons from the places where it has gone wrong (14mins 33secs)
The role of practice management (16mins 41secs)
Establishing a provider network – Provider Exchange (17mins 54secs)
The role of Provider Exchange (19mins 10 secs)
Visit and use Provider Exchange (19mins 56secs)
The Provider Exchange website is at www.providerexchange.co.uk
Nigel can be contacted on 07710915934
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Dr Steve Kell was, until April this year, chair of Bassetlaw CCG and national co-chair of NHS Clinical Commissioners. In this podcast he explains to Ben why he has given up both of these roles and gone back to being a full-time GP. In particular, he talks about the exciting work his practice is undertaking as part of a pilot site for the Primary Care Home.
Show Notes
Steve explains his reasons for giving up the two non-core roles (1min 16secs)
A gap in primary care commissioning led Steve back to being a GP (2mins 20secs)
More time in the practice to develop General Practice (3mins 43secs)
Crucial role for GPs in clinical commissioning (4mins 06secs)
Is enough priority given nationally to the problems in General Practice? (4mins 58secs)
The Primary Care Home model (6secs 08secs)
The three main aims of the project (6mins 48secs)
The model in practice – the value of employing a pharmacist (7mins 23secs)
The demand for the pharmacist and how it started (8mins 27secs)
Advice to practices considering employing a pharmacist (9mins 17secs)
The model in practice – giving a home in practice to community staff (10mins 30secs)
Making co-location work – building a joint approach (11mins 16secs)
Developing the primary care team model (12mins 09secs)
Focussing on efficiencies (12mins 58secs)
How might the funding work in the future? (14mins 23secs)
The future direction of the Primary Care Home (15mins 12secs)
The general practice role in this development (15mins 41secs)
How does the Primary Care Home differ from the multi-specialty community provider model (13mins 26secs)
The model can address the problems facing general practice (16mins 54secs)
Making general practice more attractive for GPs (18mins 03secs)