Talking General Practice is going weekly! We will now be available every Friday. One week will feature our news round-up and the following week will be an interview with someone from the world of general practice, taking a more in-depth look at a key issue in primary care. This week it’s news. The team looks at the pressure general practice is currently under as a result of the Omicron variant, staff absences and soaring patient demand. They also discuss what the huge backlog of care means for p...
Jan 14, 2022•23 min•Season 2Ep. 1
This week the team looks at plans to ramp up the COVID-19 booster vaccination programme and what this means for GPs and their teams. They also discuss the latest annual GMC State of Medical Education and Practice report and what it tells us about general practice. In our interview Emma speaks to Dr Ellen Fallows, a GP in Oxfordshire and director of the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine’s learning academy. Ellen explains exactly what lifestyle medicine is, the evidence to support its use and ...
Dec 17, 2021•39 min•Season 1Ep. 16
This week the team discusses the Omicron COVID-19 variant, changes to the vaccination booster programme and how this could impact on practice workload. They also talk about the results of the BMA’s industrial action ballot and what went on at the English LMCs conference last week, including the first address by new GPC England chair Dr Farah Jameel and a wide ranging debate on GP and practice staff wellbeing. In this episode's intereview, Luke speaks to Dr Matt Sawyer a GP in Yorkshire about a n...
Dec 03, 2021•36 min•Season 1Ep. 15
This week we’re talking about a new inquiry into the future of general practice launched by the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee, with MPs warning that the profession is ‘in crisis’. We also look at the decision to introduce mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for NHS staff in England. And we’ll be discussing the election of a new chair for the BMA’s GP committee in England and looking ahead to next week’s conference of English LMCs. Emma speaks to Dr Veronica Grant a GP in Derbyshir...
Nov 19, 2021•32 min•Season 1Ep. 14
This week the team looks at the fallout from the government’s so-called support package for general practice in England. We discuss the BMA’s plans to ballot GPs on different types of industrial action they could take in protest to the controversial plans that fail to address the current workload crisis and could have the opposite effect of making things significantly worse. We’ll also be looking at the response of some local healthcare leaders to the proposals and what the latest appointment da...
Nov 05, 2021•40 min•Season 1Ep. 13
This week we take a look at the government’s so-called support package for general practice. We discuss what’s in the package, what GPs think about it (spoiler - not much) and what happens next. We’re also talking about chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty’s appearance at the RCGP annual conference last week and what he had to say about general practice and the difficult winter ahead. Emma speaks to Dr Richard Mayne a GP in Belfast about the impact of sedentary behaviour in general pract...
Oct 29, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 12
In this special episode of our podcast we speak to the chair of the Royal College of GPs Professor Martin Marshall. GPonline editor Emma Bower spoke to Professor Marshall ahead of the RCGP’s annual conference, which takes place in Liverpool this week. Professor Marshall discusses the current media storm around face-to-face appointments, what needs to be done to tackle the workload crisis in general practice and why he thinks being a GP is still the best job in medicine. He also tells us what it ...
Oct 13, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 11
In this episode the team talks about the latest GP appointment data and what it tells us about exactly how hard general practice is working. They ask, is the government starting to recognise the important role general practice plays? And they take a look at new government legislation around pay transparency in general practice. In our interview this week Emma speaks to Dr Rebecca Rosen, a GP in London and senior fellow at health think tank the Nuffield Trust, about continuity care. We discuss wh...
Oct 08, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 10
This week the team discusses the current furore around face-to-face appointments and how national media campaigns and comments from MPs about access to general practice is affecting GPs and their teams. They also look at the COVID-19 booster campaign and what this means for general practice this autumn. And discuss the additional roles reimbursement scheme – the initiative that is aiming to bring an additional 26,000 full-time equivalent staff into primary care in England by 2024 – and ask: is i...
Sep 24, 2021•36 min•Season 1Ep. 9
This week the team talks about supply problems affecting GP practices - namely delays to flu vaccine deliveries and the NHS-wide blood test tube shortage. They look at what these problems mean for practices and the knock on impact on patients. They also look at the state of the BMA and NHS England’s relationship now that the BMA has agreed to restart formal talks after a five-month break. In our interview this week Luke speaks with Dr Ellie Reed, an F1 junior doctor in south west London, who is ...
Sep 10, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 8
This week the team discusses rising levels of abuse faced by doctors and staff working in general practice and some of the reasons behind this. They also talk about the latest official GP workforce figures, what they tell us about the state of the profession and why the BMA said the statistics were ‘gaslighting’ doctors. In our interview Emma speaks with Dr Carey Lunan, a GP in Edinburgh and chair of the Deep End GP Group in Scotland, and Dr David Blane a GP in Glasgow and Clinical Research Fell...
Aug 13, 2021•32 min•Season 1Ep. 7
This week the team discusses COVID-19 booster and flu jabs, what the plans will mean for general practice this autumn and why running the campaigns will be a huge challenge for practices. We also look at what the changes to COVID restrictions on 19 July means for primary care, including new rules around self isolation, what’s what with face masks and NHS England withdrawing its standard operating procedure for primary care. In our interview Emma speaks with Royal College of GPs clinical lead for...
Jul 23, 2021•44 min•Season 1Ep. 6
This week we discuss the government’s plans to relax almost all of the current COVID-19 restrictions when it moves to step 4 of its roadmap, currently scheduled for 19 July, and find out what the NHS thinks about it. We also look at what the COVID-19 booster campaign this autumn could mean for general practice and discuss the latest GP trainee recruitment figures. Our interview this week is with Dr Pauline Foreman, who is a GP in Hertfordshire and clinical director of the Personalised Care Insti...
Jul 09, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 5
This week we’re talking about the ongoing fall out from the now infamous NHS England letter about face to face appointments, including the current state of relations between NHS England and the BMA and what health secretary Matt Hancock has to say about it all. We take a look at the latest problems with Primary Care Support England that has left practices missing payments and caused problems with pensions. And we discuss claims that bullying and sexism are still a problem in some local medical c...
Jun 25, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 4
This week we take a look at the government and NHS Digital’s plans for a mass data extraction of all GP patient records in England, highlighting some of the concerns and why it has been put on hold for two months. We also look at the additional roles reimbursement scheme, a major plank of funding in the five-year GP contract that promises extra staff for primary care in England, and ask will it help alleviate workload pressures? Our interview features Dr Tamsin Ellis, a GP in London and chair of...
Jun 11, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 3
This week we’re talking about face-to-face appointments in primary care and the fallout from NHS England’s standard operating procedure for general practice that demanded practice provide in-person appointments for all patients if they wanted them. We also speak to Dr Sophie Lumley and Dr Adam Thomas, the national co-chairs of the RCGP’s associates in training committee, about GP training in the pandemic and the possible long-term implications of changes that have been introduced during the past...
May 28, 2021•25 min•Season 1Ep. 2
This week we’re talking about the workload crisis in general practice, looking at the reasons behind it and what could be done to address some of the problems. We also speak to wellbeing expert GP Dr Helen Garr, deputy director of NHS Practitioner Health, about the impact heavy workload and the pandemic has had on GPs’ and other staff members’ mental health. Helen also provides some practical advice on what to do if you, or someone you know, is struggling to cope. Finally, we take a look at the ...
May 14, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Brought to you by GPonline.com , this podcast looks at the latest news affecting general practice. Each fortnight the GPonline team highlights key stories - we'll also be talking to GPs and others from primary care about the big issues, highlighting some positive stories and inspirational people along the way. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 13, 2021•41 sec
