Scottish National Users' Group (SNUG) Podcast

This month we tackle a change heading for every practice in Scotland over the next year or two: the migration from Docman 7 to Docman 10. We have some clips from the OneAdvanced presentation at the recent SNUG Members' Day - Louise Haggerty and Suzanne Millar walk us through the ten-week lead-in, and then a candid interview with someone who's already done it. Russell Hale, assistant practice manag...

In this episode, recorded at the recent SNUG Members' Day conference in Cumbernauld, we hear from three companies working at different points along the patient journey in general practice. Barrie Holding from GP Triage talks us through an AI-powered triage system that conducts a real-time conversational assessment with patients, risk-stratifies their presentation, and books directly into the pract...

In this episode, we speak with Professor George Crooks OBE ,  Chief Executive of Scotland's Digital Health and Care Innovation Centre and a former GP of 23 years in Aberdeen. He reflects on changes over the years  and how the quiet disappearance of proactive home visiting in general practice has contributed to some of today's system pressures, and argues that technology - from passive monitoring t...

In this episode, we speak with Dr Iain Cromarty about life as a GP on the island of Hoy in Orkney. Iain shares how he came to work in one of Scotland's most remote practices, the realities of providing care to a population of around 400 on an island steeped in wartime history, and the unique clinical challenges of island medicine - from catching ferries for acute admissions to managing patients wh...

In this second part of our polypharmacy discussion with Steve Williams , we continue to explore whether large language models like Microsoft Copilot could play a practical role in supporting medication reviews. We consider a real case from a duty day in general practice where Copilot was used to assess prescribing safety and generate a summary of deprescribing opportunities. This prompt was used:...

Steve Williams is a senior clinical pharmacist with 35 years of NHS experience, and a co-host of the Aural Apothecary Podcast - a show that takes "an authentic yet light-hearted take on the world of medicines and healthcare in the UK". Steve shares his approach to tackling polypharmacy with us, having moved from acute hospital settings to general practice specifically to address the root causes of...

In this festive episode, we welcome Dr. Chris Weatherburn back for an annual end-of-year chat, reflecting on a year marked by the news that One Advanced have taken over the Vision system and there have also been many AI products starting to make an impact on general practice. Chris outlines three key areas: ambient voice technologies, workflow automation, and decision support. He notes the tension...

We explore the realities of working in a general practice in a remote rural area of northwest Scotland, highlighting the unique geography, distances from hospital care, and the way these factors shape clinical work, patient access, and continuity of care. Andy Vickerstaff, the practice manager for Aultbea and Gairloch Medical Practice, describes how long travel distances profoundly influence decis...

In this episode, we speak with Dr Sam Patel, National Programme Lead for the Digital Prescribing and Dispensing Pathways (DPDP) Programme, to explore Scotland’s progress toward replacing paper prescriptions with a secure, end-to-end electronic system. Sam explains the legal and technical foundations required to make the transition — from implementing advanced electronic signatures compliant with U...

In this episode, we discuss the Scottish Cardiovascular DES designed to reduce adverse cardiovascular events by tackling population-wide risk factors like high blood pressure, raised glucose and cholesterol. Professor James McCormack suggests a greater focus on shared decision making with patients,  arguing that the common 10% risk threshold used to trigger treatment is an arbitrary figure that of...

In this “emergency” podcast we focus on the major announcement that One Advanced has acquired the Vision system, bringing long-awaited clarity after months of uncertainty following INPS’s administration last December. Dr David Cooper and Dr Bill Martin, co-chairs of SNUG, discuss the relief this brings to Vision practices, staff, and NHS teams who had been left in limbo. They reflect on the resili...

At the SNUG Members’ Day, a workshop featured Dr. Keith Mercer discussing his practice’s migration to the Vision IT system, in an interview with National Facilitator Manager Dawn Ellis. Preparation The team used checklists, spreadsheets, and searches to prepare for the move from EMIS. Keith and the Practice Manager dedicated around 10–12 hours to data mapping, alongside routine work. Staff complet...

In this episode we hear from some system suppliers who were exhibiting at the recent SNUG Members’ day. Numed’s Simon Healy explains how their ECG, spirometry and blood-pressure devices can integrate with a GP system, Caitlin Collins and Elliot Shaw from Microtech discuss Surgery Pod, a self-service computer system that captures blood-pressure, height, weight and lifestyle data in the waiting room...

Dr Steve Baguley is a consultant in Sexual Health & HIV and has been Chief Clinical Digital Officer for NHS Grampian since 2010. This episode features a discussion in which he compares Estonia's effective digital health system, which requires providers to submit care summaries to a central repository, enabling seamless data sharing and full transparency for citizens (who can view their records...

We have an interview this month with Dr Margaret McCartney , a Glasgow GP, broadcaster, and writer, who discusses her journey into media, the current challenges faced in general practice, and her views on technology, evidence-based medicine, and contemporary healthcare issues. Margaret shares how her media career began rather unexpectedly and gives some insights into her media engagement. She expr...

Lexacom began as a simple audio recorder program created by former GP , Dr Andrew Whiteley , originally devised to save time by sending recordings across a network to a secretary. Over two decades, the company has grown organically, serving over 60% of GPs with its digital dictation, transcription, and speech-recognition solutions. In this episode, Dr. Whiteley describes how this developed. Lexaco...

In this episode, we have the privilege of speaking with Professor Roger Neighbour, former GP and past president of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP). We discuss how AI-powered tools like Heidi Health and Clinitalk are providing new opportunities for GPs and GP trainees. We discuss: The impact of AI scribes on GP consultations - are they are a game-changer? The benefits and risks of...

Dr Chris Weatherburn discusses his productive year, focusing on maintaining a work-life balance and the value of effective habits and shares insights on managing innovation responsibly within healthcare, advocating for new technology to be implemented safely. Reflecting on challenges in the GP IT landscape, he expresses confidence in overcoming uncertainties surrounding the future of the Vision sy...

We ponder the dramatic news that INPS has gone into administration and catch up on First Minister’s questions before our main discussion with Dr Colin Brown, a retired GP and now Healthcare Informatics Consultant. Colin takes us through the evolution of GP computing systems and reflects on the challenges of implementing technology in healthcare, recounting the early adoption of Gpass, the main GP...

In this episode, we discuss migration to the Vision system for EMIS users in Scotland, focusing on key aspects of preparation. Some advantages of the new hosted environment include automatic backups, improved access to clinical systems across multiple sites, more collaborative working, and the ability to use non-medical prescribing with barcoded scripts. Vision Anywhere provides a secure backup sy...

Dr Beth Kerr, a GP in the Scottish Borders, discusses her involvement in digital dermatology on this month’s SNUG podcast. She explains her role as a clinical lead in the development of a digital dermatology pathway in collaboration with the Centre For Sustainable Delivery (CFSD) . The project is part of the Accelerated National Innovation Adoption (ANIA) Pathway  and aims to address the significa...

In this month’s episode we visit Dumfries and Galloway, the latest stop in our trip around the regions. We speak with Dr Neil Kelly , a familiar voice on the SNUG podcast, and discuss life in the South of Scotland and how things are going with preparations for GP system change, how the local project team and facilitators have become  confident in managing the change, and the importance of supporti...

In this episode, we speak to Dr Hannah Allen, a GP with extensive experience in digital health and AI. She discusses her current role with Heidi Health, who developed Heidi, an AI-driven tool designed to assist clinicians. Hannah explains that her interest in Heidi was sparked by its potential to impact healthcare at scale, driven by the needs of clinicians and developed by a doctor. Heidi was ori...

In this episode, we meet Dr Peter Cairns , who is a GP in Wester Hailes Medical Practice , in Edinburgh, and a clinical advisor to the Digital Directorate in Lothian. He mentions his involvement in the Edinburgh Community Link Network , his blog " Primary Care Crunch ," and his musical hobbies. Peter discusses a currently mixed picture in general practice, highlighting some improvements in workfor...

In this episode, we shift our focus from GP IT Re-provisioning to another major change for practices: the upgrade from Docman 7 to the cloud-hosted Docman 10. We've previously discussed Docman's vital role in document management and the GP2GP system for records transfer . Docman is indispensable for handling the influx of results and letters we receive daily. However, like everything else, it’s ab...