Talking General Practice

This week Emma speaks to Dr Richard West, a GP partner in a dispensing practice in Suffolk and chair of the Dispensing Doctors’ Association. Dispensing practices are a vital lifeline for patients in rural areas, but they are facing a host of challenges that are threatening their viability. In this conversation, Richard explains the crucial role these practices play and the immense pressures they a...

This week Emma and Nick talk about how adding GPs to the additional roles reimbursement scheme has impacted on the workforce in different parts of the country. They look at what the government has to say about the ARRS and asking whether it is painting an accurate picture of the current state of the GP workforce in England. They also discuss what the BMA wants the government to do to avert a jobs...

This week Emma talks to Dr Andy Hilton, a GP partner and chief executive of Primary Care Sheffield a not-for-profit company, owned by the city's GP practices, which was recently highlighted in the 10-year health plan as an example of successful neighbourhood working. In this conversation, Andy explains the origins of Primary Care Sheffield, how it has worked to support practices, and the wide rang...

In our news review Emma and Nick talk about the findings of the independent review into the use of physician associates in the NHS and what this means for their role in future. They look at the results of the latest GP patient survey and what that tells us about how patients feel about general practice. And they discuss what happens next for neighbourhood health as more details emerge about the go...

This week Emma speaks to Dr Duncan Gooch, a GP in Derbyshire and the chair of the NHS Confederation's Primary Care Network, which represents at-scale primary care organisations. As well as being a GP partner, Duncan also has leadership roles in at-scale primary care organisations in his local area. In this conversation Duncan shares his thoughts on the what the 10-year health plan could mean for g...

In this week’s podcast the GPonline team looks in detail at the government’s 10-year health plan and what it means for general practice. They talk about what the plan could mean for the future of the GP contract and the partnership model, the government’s plans for a neighbourhood NHS and what GPs think about the proposals. They also look at how the government plans to shift the NHS from analogue...

Emma speaks to Lizzy Lloyd, chair of AISMA, the Association of Independent Specialist Medical Accountants, and a partner at the accountancy firm Larking Gowen. The financial pressures on general practice have been a major theme of the past few years, and in this episode, Lizzy discusses the impact this has had on practices. She talks about cash flow problems and the complexities of the GP contract...

This week Emma speaks to Dr Lisa Harrod-Rothwell, chief executive of Londonwide LMCs and a GP in Islington, North London. Londonwide LMCs represents local medical committees, GPs and practices in 27 of the capital’s 32 boroughs. In this conversation, Lisa explains exactly what Londonwide LMCs does and some of the key challenges facing general practice in London, including workforce issues, premise...

This week Emma and Nick discuss what the spending review had to say about the NHS and look ahead to what we know about the government’s 10 Year Health Plan, which is expected to be published in the coming weeks. In this episode they talk about what that plan could mean for the future of general practice and the NHS in England, how the government might aim to meet its ambitions of creating a neighb...

Emma speaks to Dr Caroline Taylor, chair of the National Association of Primary Care and a GP in Calderdale, West Yorkshire. The NAPC has been at the forefront of developing the neighbourhood approach to health and Caroline is a big advocate for this model. In this conversation, Caroline explains exactly what a neighbourhood is, how general practice should fit into this model and the benefits of t...

This week the GPonline team talks about the pay rise GPs and other doctors have received this year, what GPs think about this year’s contract deal and the prospect of more strikes from resident doctors. And they look at what’s happening in Northern Ireland after the government imposed the GP contract there. They also discuss the ongoing GP jobs crisis after the BMA raised fears that up to 1,000 GP...

The government is expected to publish its 10-year Health Plan in June and neighbourhood health will form a key part of the plan. In an interview with the Telegraph last month health and social care secretary Wes Streeting highlighted a scheme from Brazil, that has been piloted in London, and involves community health and wellbeing workers providing outreach work. Could a model like this be part of...

This week Emma speaks to Dr Caroline Watson, who is chair of the Royal College of GPs Secure Environments Group and has over a decade of experience working as a GP in prisons in England. Caroline is currently clinical director of Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Trust Secure Services and works as a GP at HMP Bedford. Caroline explains how she got involved in working in secure environments, what wor...

(Please note in this episode we mistakenly refer to a report on GP partner numbers as being produced by the Health Foundation. It was in fact produced by the Nuffield Trust) This week Emma and Nick discuss falling numbers of GP partners and what this could mean for the future of general practice. They talk about what went on at the UK LMCs conference last week, where the BMA launched a new report...

This week Emma speaks to Professor Dame Helen Stokes-Lampard, who is a GP and the national chief medical officer in New Zealand. Helen took on her new role as chief medical officer six months ago, however many UK doctors will know her from her previous roles as chair of the Royal College of GPs, a post she held from between 2016 and 2019 and as chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges d...

The GPonline team discusses the key news stories affecting general practice. This week Emma and Nick look at the new advice and guidance directed enhanced service, which will pay practices for GPs making use of local advice and guidance systems. Nick explains the huge variation of uptake of advice and guidance across England and what this could mean for practices delivering the enhanced service. Y...

This week Emma speaks to Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, the chair of the BMA England GP committee, about what the future holds for general practice Katie explains why this year’s contract deal is the start of a long journey of recovery for general practice and the basis on which to create a more positive future for the profession. Now that the government has agreed to negotiate a completely new GP cont...

The GPonline team discusses the key news stories affecting general practice. This week the team looks at GP recruitment under the additional roles reimbursement scheme and what new figures tell us about how that initiative is working. They also talk about cuts to integrated care boards, what that could mean for general practice and how the financial constraints within the NHS are already impacting...

This week Emma speaks to Professor Naomi Allen, chief scientist at UK Biobank, a biomedical database and research resource that contains data, information and biological samples from half a million UK participants. Naomi, who is also a professor of epidemiology at the University of Oxford, explains how UK Biobank was established, how it works, and the wealth of data it holds. Naomi also discusses...

On this week’s podcast Emma and Nick talk about how this year’s GP contract will affect practices’ finances and look at details of the advice and guidance enhanced service after final contract documents were published. Kimberley explains how collective action has helped one LMC secure a significant uplift to local enhanced service funding. And Nick talks through the results of this year’s British...

This week’s episode looks at GPs with extended roles and how they could help move services out of hospitals and into the community, reduce waiting times for patients and boost GP retention. Emma is speaking to Dr Charlie Andrews, a GP partner and a GP with an extended role in gastroenterology. Charlie is the driving force behind a programme in the south west of England that trains GPs with extende...

This week Emma and Nick talk about the government agreeing to negotiate a completely new GP contract within the term of this parliament and what that could mean for the profession. They also discuss the government’s decision to scrap NHS England and how it could affect general practice. And they look at the future of the GP partnership model after an influential health think tank, the Nuffield Tru...

This week Emma speaks to Dr Iain Morrison, chair of the BMA Scotland GP committee Scotland, about the critical challenges facing general practice in Scotland. In this conversation Iain explains some of the challenges general practice in Scotland is facing as a result of problems with the 2018 GP contract, the impact of underfunding, and the growing crisis in the GP job market. He explains what nee...

This week Emma and Nick look at the GP contract deal for England for 2025/26.   They discuss what exactly is in the deal and what it means for GP practices in the year ahead, in particular what it could mean for practice finances and whether changes to the additional roles reimbursement scheme will address the GP jobs crisis.   They also talk about what happens now with collective action...

This week Emma speaks to Dr John Ford and GP Dr Liam Loftus from the Health Equity Evidence Centre at Queen Mary University in London about health inequalities and how frontline clinicians, system leaders and policymakers can make evidence-based decisions to tackle inequality in healthcare. John and Liam discuss how the Health Equity Evidence Centre is making the evidence on what works when it com...