12
sep
0

Episode 31: General practice on the edge – a GP tells all

Posted by PodcastNo Comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS

This week Ben is in conversation with a GP whose story epitomises the stark and seemingly insurmountable challenges facing many GPs across the country. He is beset with recruitment difficulties, relentless patient demand, a serious fall in income and challenges to the very viability of his business. His story became one of the reasons that Ben formed Ockham Healthcare – to help practices create the head-room to find different ways of working.

Show Notes

The problems of a small practice are described (51secs)
Five adverts in search of a doctor (1mins 13secs)
Locum costs threaten the viability of the surgery (1mins 31secs)
Using head-hunters as a last resort (2mins 46secs)
The business suffers – a £15,000 drop in profits (3mins 14secs)
Unable to earn non-NHS income (3secs 44secs)
GPs recruited but problems with the bank increase (4mins 01secs)
The practice must change to survive (4mins 49secs)
150 telephone appointments a day to maintain access (5mins 23secs)
A working day that stretches from 6.30am to 9.30pm (6mins 19secs)
Partners are hard to find (6mins 48secs)
Considering scale as a way of making the business viable (8mins 10secs)
The practice’s role in a federation (9mins 10secs)
Investing in a federation (10mins 02secs)
Expectations of being in a federation (10mins 45secs)
The challenge of creating head room to turn things around (11mins 24secs)
Ockham Healthcare’s Practical Steps programme has been designed to support practices facing
similar problems (11mins 44secs)
If you’d like more information about Ockham Healthcare’s Practical Steps programme visit our
website here.  If you’d like to talk to someone about how the Practical Steps programme might help your practice please e-mail Ben Gowland at ben@ockham.healthcare
5
sep
0

Episode 30: Robin Miller – the relationship between general practice and social work

Posted by PodcastNo Comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS

Dr Robin Miller is a Senior Fellow at the Health Services Management Centre of the University of Birmingham. He has been researching the relationships between general practice and social workers and has gained interesting insights into how this relationship has struggled in the past and how it might develop in the future. In our thirtieth podcast he explains all to Ben.

Show Notes

Robin explains his background prior to joining the university (46secs)

It’s a key relationship but little researched (1min 39secs)

Not as good a relationship as it should be (2mins 11secs)

Researching why the relationship was not necessarily working well (2mins 23secs)

Unearthing the stereotypes (4mins 44secs)

The impact of current pressures on the relationship and communication between the two professions (5mins 26secs)

Overcoming the challenges (7mins 04secs)

The impact of the interventions (8mins 35secs)

The importance (and difficulty) of developing the vital relationship (10mins 21secs)

The impact of changes in general practice teams – could social workers become part of the team? (11mins 42secs)

Understanding the professional sensitivities (14mins 32secs)

Social prescribing – mind your language (15mins 32secs)

The impact that new models of care might have on the relationship (18mins 10secs)

The Better Care Fund – did integrating the budgets work? (19mins 23secs)

High hopes for the devolution agenda (20mins 42secs)

Finding out more and contacting Robin (22mins 18secs)

Dr Robin Miller works at the Health Services Management Centre of the University of Birmingham and can be e-mailed at r.s.miller@bham.ac.uk

30
aug
0

Episode 29: Tracey Vell – trialling the new MCP contract in Manchester

Posted by PodcastNo Comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS

A fascinating episode this week with Dr Tracey Vell, LMC lead in Greater Manchester. Greater Manchester is one of six areas working on a draft of the MCP contract and Tracey tells Ben about the progress being made, about the incentives for local GPs to get involved and about the surprising levels of engagement amongst GPs across the area.

Show Notes

Tracey explains how she became involved in the LMC (1min)

LMC involvement in the devolution process in Manchester (1min 49secs)

Representing general practice as providers (2mins 42secs)

Development of the MCP contract (4mins 13secs)

A flexible contract that allows many options for general practice (5mins 09secs)

General practice gets to choose the level at which they get involved (6mins 29secs)

How does size influence the care organisations (8mins 04secs)

The size of a hub (9mins 06secs)

The size of a “neighbourhood” (9mins 27secs)

Practices within a neighbourhood can choose how involved they are (9mins 44secs)

What are the incentives to get involved? (10mins 33secs)

How estates are dealt with (12mins 08secs)

Corporate indemnity for a hub – rather than an individual (14mins 21secs)

Is the funding dependent on the new contractual arrangements? (15mins 43secs)

The difficult issues (16mins 39secs)

Where are the agreements at now? (18mins 56secs)

What level of sign up has been achieved? (20mins 04secs)

What advice for other areas considering the contract (21mins 42secs)

22
aug
0

Episode 28: Richard Fieldhouse – Challenging Questions on GP Locum Chambers

Posted by PodcastNo Comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS

In the final episode of our short series of podcasts on GP Locum Chambers, Ben talks to Richard Fieldhouse, Chairman of the National Association of Sessional GPs and one of the first GPs to set up a locum chambers. A number of challenging questions from listeners about locum GPs and chambers have arisen during our series of podcasts and Ben puts these more difficult questions to Richard.

Show Notes

Richard argues that we are wasteful in the use of locum GPs (1min 28secs)

Is the lack of continuity of care a problem? (3min 28secs)

A balance of partners, salaried and locums is needed (5mins 56secs)

Aren’t locums simply an expensive resource that we cannot afford (7mins 03secs)

The costs of agency locums (8mins 08secs)

Locums are expensive and don’t know what they are doing…aren’t they? (10mins 10secs)

Could all GPs end up in chambers? (13mins 46secs)

The future employment options for GPs in an MCP organisation (16mins 09secs)

Advice for areas that want to set up a local locum GP chambers (17mins 33secs)

Richard’s organisation, the National Association of Sessional GPs has a website that can be found here.

 

15
aug
0

Episode 27: Jenny Stone – On Practice Mergers

Posted by PodcastNo Comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS

Ben talks to Jenny Stone, an accountant with a firm which has considerable experience in advising and supporting practices through mergers. She explains the steps that practices have to take and exposes some of the hidden difficulties that merging practices can experience.

Show Notes

Jenny outlines the experience of her company (55secs)

Considering a merger (1min 11secs)

The drivers for merger (2mins 05secs)

Are merged practices more profitable? (2mins 46secs)

What to focus on to achieve real financial benefits (3mins 14secs)

Taking steps to merge (4mins 08secs)

Options for practices with differing contracts (5mins 15secs)

Looking at the accounts early on (6mins 34secs)

Is profitability a deal breaker? (7mins 41secs)

Working with differing accountants (8mins 43secs)

TUPE – the next steps (9mins 31secs)

The role of practice managers (10mins 17secs)

The next steps and early stages of the merger (11mins 06secs)

Support for practices (12mins 25secs)

Transitional costs (12mins 59secs)

The costs of handing back the list (14mins 01secs)

Preparing for the worst (15mins 24secs)

Partners becoming more involved in the business (16mins 01secs)

Advice for partners – set a budget (16mins 58secs)

You can contact Jenny via info@ramsaybrown.co.uk (18mins 38secs)

Page 87 of 95
1858687888995