Talking General Practice

Emma talks to Robert McCartney, a senior associate in the corporate commercial team at the law firm Hempsons to discuss the shift toward a neighborhood NHS and what this means for the future of general practice. In this conversation, Robert outlines the potential impact new single and multi-neighborhood provider contracts could have and discusses the growing trend of PCNs incorporating as limited...

This week Emma and Nick discuss a significant fall in the number of young GP partners, the reasons behind this and what the long term impact of this workforce shift might be. They look at the exodus of UK-trained international medical graduate doctors to other countries and talk about why this group has been particularly hard hit by the GP jobs crisis. They also highlight the impact new legislatio...

Emma speaks to Patrick Denston about how GP practices can make the best use of new tech and what the next five years could hold. Patrick is a PCN digital transformation and change manager and a practice business manager based in Farnborough, Hampshire, as well as an NHS England AI peer ambassador. He has a proven track record of successfully introducing new technology into general practice. In thi...

Emma and Nick talk about some key news stories from the end of December and the start of this year linked to issues where we are expecting some major developments in the early part of 2026. They talk about the 2026/27 GP contract, what the BMA and RCGP have said the contract needs to address, as well as some of their own predictions about what could happen. They look at what comes next with neighb...

Emma speaks to the new chair of the Royal College of GPs Dr Victoria Tzortziou Brown, who took on the post at the end of November. Victoria is the first international medical graduate to chair the college and has worked as a GP in East London for 20 years. In this conversation, Victoria sets out her priorities for her time as chair, including defining the role of general practice in a changing hea...

Emma speaks to Dr Vish Ratnasuriya, a GP partner and the elected chair of Our Health Partnership, one of the UK’s largest super partnerships. Vish was also recently appointed as a member of the newly formed National Commission for the Regulation of AI in Healthcare. In this episode, Vish explains how Our Health Partnership;s ‘decentralized’ super partnership model helps support practices while ret...

In this special bonus episode Talking General Practice speaks to consultant nephrologist Dr Shafi Malik about the heightened risk of genetic kidney conditions among South Asian populations. In this conversation, Dr Malik explains why patients of South Asian origin are more at risk of genetic kidney disease and how common these conditions are. He talks specifically about primary hyperoxaluria type...

The GPonline team discusses the ongoing dispute between the government and the BMA GP committee in England after a GP and member of the BMA Council and BMA GP committee reported health and social care secretary Wes Streeting to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards for the language he’s used about the BMA in the dispute. They also look at the internal politics at the BMA itself after a memb...

Emma speaks to Dr Katie Bramall, chair of the BMA’s GP committee in England. In this conversation, Katie talks about the current dispute with the government over online access changes. She responds to the recent letter sent to GPs by health secretary Wes Streeting, which accused her of 'unprofessional behaviour' and misleading the profession over contract changes, and explains why she believes tru...

The GPonline team discusses the key news stories affecting general practice. The team talks about GP contract negotiations after the government confirmed it intended to talk to key stakeholders alongside the BMA as part of putting together next year’s deal - and health and social care secretary Wes Streeting wrote to the profession accusing the GP committee chair of lies and unprofessional behavio...

Emma speaks to Dr Luke Sayers, a GP partner and the project lead for continuity of care at North East and North Cumbria ICB, and Dr Tom Kennedy, a GP registrar and ICB clinical fellow, about the importance of continuity of care. Luke and Tom explain why continuity is so vital for both patients and doctors, discussing the evidence that shows it improves patient safety and reduces mortality, as well...

The GPonline team discusses the key news stories affecting general practice’ Nick, Emma and Kimberley look at what went on at last week’s England LMCs conference, including the results of some key votes on balloting the profession on industrial action and the types of action GPs might take. They discuss whether GPs would vote in favour of such measures and some of the other key concerns raised at...

Emma speaks to Royal College of GPs veterans clinical champion Dr Emily Brookes, about the health needs of military veterans and their families, and what general practice can do to support these groups of patients. Emily talks about the specific health challenges veterans are more likely to face, from physical conditions like hearing loss and musculoskeletal issues to a higher prevalence of mental...

Emma and Nick discuss the key news stories affecting general practice. They talk about how the GP contract change that requires practices to keep their online consultation systems on throughout core hours is affecting workload in general practice, as well as the increasingly bitter war of words between the government and the BMA about this issue. They look ahead to next week’s England LMCs confere...

Emma speaks to GP Dr Callum Leese about the importance of physical activity and how primary care professionals can promote it to their patients. Callum is a GP in Aberfeldy, Scotland, and also works at the University of Dundee, where his research focuses on physical activity promotion and implementation in primary care. He is also the Royal College of GPs co-lead for physical activity. In this con...

This week we look at the rapidly advancing field of genomics, which is becoming increasingly relevant to everyday primary care. Emma speaks to Dr Jude Hayward and Dr Imran Rafi, who are the Royal College of GPs’ joint clinical representatives for genomics. Jude is a GP with an extended role in genomic medicine and Imran is a reader in primary care and genomics at St. George's University in London....

GPonline is the media partner for the RCGP annual conference and this is the second of two special episodes of Talking General Practice from the event Newport in Wales this week. In this episode we look at what health minister Stephen Kinnock said about overhauling the Carr-Hill formula and the BMA dispute over online consultations and what delegates thought about this. We also highlight what RCGP...

Emma speaks to Royal College of GPs chair Professor Kamila Hawthorne ahead of the RCGP’s annual conference in Newport in Wales, which starts on Thursday this week. GPonline is the media partner for the annual conference, and this is the first of two episodes that we’ll be producing from the event. Kamila is nearing the end of her three years as RCGP chair and in this interview, she reflects on the...

This week Emma and NIck talk about the BMA’s decision to re-enter dispute with the government in England, the online access plans that have led us to this point and what both the BMA and the government have to say about all of this. They also look at what re-entering dispute could mean for the profession. They talk about the upcoming NHS workforce plan, which is due to be published before the end...

This week Emma speaks to Professor Brendan Delaney, a GP in London and Professor of Medical Informatics and Decision Making at Imperial College London. Brendan’s research work covers artificial intelligence in medical diagnosis and learning health systems and he is a real expert in this field. Artificial intelligence is likely to have a huge impact across society and its role in healthcare is expe...

The GPonline team discusses the key news stories affecting general practice. This week Emma and Nick talk about the BMA special representative meeting on the government’s 10-year plan, which happened last weekend. They look at what health and social care secretary Wes Streeting had to say, some of which enraged many of the GPs in attendance, as well as the key votes on motions about general practi...

This week Emma speaks to Dr Helen Thomas, a GP in Hampshire and a member of the group Healthcare Professionals for Safer Screens. Helen has been involved with developing screening tools and training resources to help clinicians identify problematic smartphone use in young people which might be affecting their mental health. In this conversation Helen explains the evidence linking excessive screen...

The GPonline team discusses the latest news affecting general practice. This week Emma and Nick look at the latest GP earnings and expenses data and what it tells us about income for both partners and salaried GPs and regional variations across the UK. There’s also a quick round up of some other data published last week on the GP workforce and practice workload. They also discuss the BMA’s recent...

This week Emma speaks to Adrian Down, who is the managing partner of a practice in Lincolnshire and a director of the Institute of General Practice Management (IGPM). Adrian discusses the vital role of the practice manager and the work the IGPM is doing to give managers a stronger voice and create clear standards through its accreditation scheme. He talks about the challenges facing practice manag...

This week the GPonline team discusses health and social care secretary Wes Streeting’s letter to the profession and asks whether what he had to say addressed the BMA’s ‘red lines’ to avert further industrial action by the profession. They also look at the latest update to this year’s GP contract and what that means for staff and GP pay. There’s an update on physician associate roles after their un...