14 September was a big day for our events team as we held our first face-to-face conference since February 2020. We welcomed Practice Managers, GP Partners, Receptionists and Administrators at the ILEC Conference Centre for Management in Practice London.

It was fantastic to see our community in person once again, and to listen to engaging presentations and discussions.

Topics covered this year included:

• HR and employment updates
• Changes in commissioning
• Legal considerations for PCNs
• COVID-19
• Resilience and wellbeing
• NHS Pension Scheme
• PCN service specifications
• CQC: What’s new for primary care
• Remote consultations
• Post pandemic surgery telephony

Chaired by Jo Wadey, Director, Institute of General Practice Management; Myra Upton, president of AMSPAR; and Moira Auchterlonie Practice Management Network Board & Lay/Patient Reviewer, the event offered delegates a choice of talks, dedicated networking time and a lively exhibition to explore.

Our exhibitors and sponsors represented a range of sectors including technology, medical supplies, recruitment, financial planning, and legal advice. Attendees were able to discuss the needs of their practice and patients in a relaxed environment.

The event has proved popular with over 98% of attendees recommending it to a friend*. Here’s just some of the great comments we’ve received:

• “Great opportunity to meet like-minded colleagues face to face. Nice to know that ours is not the only practice facing challenges in the current climate.”
• “It was my first conference and was very pleased with all the presentations/meetings I attended. Very good choice for people of different skills and interests.”
• “It was wonderful to meet other colleges after a long time and have updates on what is going to happen in future.”

Our team are busy working on the final two dates for 2021:

• Management in Practice Birmingham – 9 November 2021, The National Conference Centre
• Management in Practice Newcastle – 30 November 2021, Hilton Newcastle Gateshead

If you are interested in being there as an attendee, speaker or sponsor, do get in touch: [email protected] or visit our website for more information.

This month, Pulse has an iconic cover; a pastiche of Game of Thrones, warning that winter is coming.

The feature looks at all the problems facing GPs and the NHS this winter, concluding that this might actually be the worst winter for the health service. 

Alongside this, we look at the media storm around GPs apparently not seeing patients face to face. Our survey of 1,000 GPs revealed that they are seeing patients who need to be seen face to face and that waiting times have decreased as a result of the move to a mixed model of in-person and remote consultations. 

Our clinical section features a casebook on Parkinson’s, while we continue our Long Covid series, this month focusing on chest pains. Alongside this, we have the second part of our gynaecology remote consultations guide. 

The CPD this month features dealing with difficult conversations, while Copperfield directs his ire to the NHS’s insistence that GPs seek advice and guidance from secondary care before referring.

Practice and community nurses spoke about the difficulties they are having to prepare for a tough autumn and winter ahead, for the latest edition of Nursing in Practice magazine.

One of the major issues has been the Government did not confirm the Covid booster jab programme until 14 September. Health and social care secretary Sajid Javid had been indicating people would get their third Covid vaccination from September along with the flu jab.

But when he finally announced the booster programme would go ahead there were few details or guidance on how the two vaccination programmes would be run alongside each other – with vaccinators being given just days to start administering boosters.

A clinical director at a primary care network in the south of England, who wished to remain anonymous, told Nursing in Practice: ‘There’s been a black hole of information around the boosters. Without clarity, there’s a lot of unnecessary work having to be done.’ A practice nurse in the south-west of England, who also did not wish to be named, explained her surgery had reorganised flu jabs to co-ordinate them with the booster jabs.

‘It has meant a lot of disappointed patients and extra admin too’, the nurse from the south-west of England said.

Adding to the pressure is nurses are playing catch-up to clear the backlog of services, including delayed shingles, measles, mumps and rubella vaccinations.

Practice nurse Elia Monteiro raised concerns to Nursing in Practice that the huge workload meant nurses were unable to give patients the time they needed, which could risk patient safety.

The BMA trade union has called for practices to receive extra funds to help them deal with the Covid crisis. ‘We went into the pandemic with far too few GPs, nurses and wider practice staff, meaning practices were already struggling to meet the needs of patients safety,’ BMA GP committee chair Dr Richard Vautrey told Nursing in Practice. ‘As we head into what looks to be one of the most difficult winters most of us will ever have experienced there needs to be an understanding of the huge pressure on practices.’

The Government this month pledged £5.4bn to help the NHS clear the backlog of services. It was unclear how much, if any, would go to practices. An NHS recovery ‘recovery 10 point action plan’, also released this month, said practices would get a funding boost in the second half of this year.

But by the end of the month it was still ‘TBC’ when practices would get this extra cash and how much it will be. So practices were left waiting to know whether it would be enough and received quickly enough to really help them get through the tough winter ahead.

Cogora is proud to announce the shortlist for the General Practice Awards 2021 – an annual celebration and recognition of the hard work, innovation, and dedication taking place in primary care across the UK.

Showcasing the very best projects, teams, and leaders and sharing in achievements, the awards are a fantastic chance to step back and reflect on the past year – and what a year it has been for you all. We salute your continued dedication to your healthcare communities and the well-being of your patients.

We are thrilled to announce the shortlist for the General Practice Awards 2021; hundreds of fantastic nominations were received, from individuals and teams working across the full scope of general practice whilst facing the unprecedented challenge of a worldwide pandemic, as well as suppliers and organisations who provide incredible support, products, and services for the healthcare professionals.   

“We were in awe of all the inspiring work being carried out, despite the immense strain the healthcare sector was put under” say Jessica Cornish, Cogora’s events marketing manager. “Our expert judges completed their scoring, with many categories proving a tough deliberation .The quality of the entries this year was incredibly high

We want to congratulate everyone who has been shortlisted, it’s a fantastic achievement to get this far considering the trying times you have faced. We look forward to seeing lots of you at the Awards evening to celebrate.

We would like to say a big thank you to our sponsors, without whom the awards would not be possible, and to our wonderful judges without whom we would not have our shortlist”.

Tickets for the General Practice Awards 2021 Ceremony will be on sales by mid September. If you are interested in attending, please contact [email protected] for more information.

A Pulse exclusive that hundreds of thousands of Astra Zeneca Covid-19 vaccines were going to waste was picked up by the Telegraph and featured on BBC Radio Surrey and Sussex.

‘Tens of thousands’ of excess doses of the Astra Zeneca Covid vaccine risk being wasted when they expire over the next week, Pulse has been told, as NHS England admitted planned collections were ‘seriously delayed’. NHS England began asking vaccination sites for data on excess doses in May, and has since advised that it would ‘collect the vaccine and hope to move it internationally’, a GP whistle-blower told Pulse.

The story has been covered by the Telegraph.

Pulse is now the most widely read non-reference journal among GPs, with a higher readership than the BMJ and the British Journal of General Practice, according to the recently released GP Media Survey (GPMS 2021).

There was an average issue readership of 35% of GPs for Pulse over the past 12 months, the survey of GPs revealed. This compares with scores of 29% for the BMJ and 19% for the British Journal of General Practice.

The 2020 version of the survey showed that the BMJ was slightly ahead on average issue readership, with 29% to 28% for Pulse, but the past year has seen Pulse streak ahead.

The research also showed an 8% increase in brand reach for Pulse and 21% increase in website use over the past 12 months.

The NMRS is commissioned each year by JICMARS (Joint Industry Committee of Medical Advertisers for Readership Surveys), a group of healthcare publishers and media buyer representatives.

The 2021 annual report, published this week, is based on 12 months of fieldwork using a sample of 528 GPs. The data are weighted to the estimated universe of all GPs based on counts provided by IQVIA, the sample list provider.

Publications included in the survey (based on the latest period) were: BMA News, BMJ, GP magazine, Prescriber, British Journal of General Practice, GM, Guidelines in Practice, Pulse, The Practitioner, Guidelines and MIMS. Pulse is published by Cogora Ltd.

It follows a very successful year for Pulse, which has won an array of awards, including British Society of Magazine Editors and Medical Journalists Association editor of the year and BSME Talent Team of the Year.

The 2021 issue of Hospital Healthcare Europe kicks off with our Radiology and Imaging supplement. 

The Hospital Healthcare Europe, in association with HOPE, continues to provide high-quality, clinical education and detail the latest developments in healthcare and technologies in 2021. 

Read the Radiology and Imaging supplement to:

• Learn how innovative technologies have transformed the standard of care in high level disinfection in ultrasound   
• Meet the Experts and hear of their work across the British Medical Ultrasound Society, the ESR Subcommittee on Ultrasound and the Royal College of Radiologists’ Informatics Committee  
• Access guideline summaries and read about recent key research in the field.  

Further supplements to Cardiology, HOPE, Oncology, Emergency Care and Pathology Diagnostics will be published through 2021. 

In Pulse’s summer edition of the magazine we investigate the thorny issue of GPs’ patient records being extracted by the Government, ‘Big brother’s big data grab’ – plus the resulting impact on patient relationships and what GPs could be liable for once the data is passed on.

Pulse also takes a look at how the Covid pandemic has changed GPs’ career plans for good. Following a year like no other, many want remote working to stay and a better work-life balance.

Meanwhile, Pulse officially launched its campaign, ‘Building a Better General Practice’, which will redefine the purpose and vision of primary care, according to what GPs want.

Pulse features assistant Eleanor Philpotts has won two awards at the British Society of Magazine Editors Talent Awards.

Eleanor won an award for ‘scoop of the year’, for her revelation about the Covid vaccination programme starting before Christmas 2020, and an award for best editorial assistant.

The judges praised Eleanor for ‘grasping the opportunities presented by the biggest health stories for a generation, acting up as a writer who has gone after the biggest stories’.

Eleanor’s ‘incredible scoop about the vaccine’ was picked up by ‘just about every other media outlet in the UK’, the judges said.

The story in early November was the first to reveal that a vaccination programme was far closer than expected, with a DES in place to begin before Christmas.

Cogora had six nominations in total, with Nicola Merrifield nominated for deputy editor of the year, Sofia Lind for team leader of the year, Costanza Pearce for digital writer of the year and Rachel Carter for best scoop of the year.

Last week, Sofia Lind won ‘unsung hero of the year’ at the PPA awards.

Pulse editor Jaimie Kaffash said: ‘Eleanor has stepped up over the past year, and her enthusiasm is unmatched. She is willing to take on any role and, at a time when Covid affected the size of the team, and left us with more work than we have ever had, her contribution was invaluable and she fully deserves these awards.

‘The whole Pulse team has been incredible this year. While our readers have been on the front line against the virus, all we could do is support them in any way we can, and I am in awe of how the team has achieved this.’  

Pulse news editor Sofia Lind has won the ‘unsung hero of the year’ award at the prestigious Professional Publishers Association awards.

Nominations were invited by the PPA for those who had shown an outstanding level of commitment to their team, was a role model and championed best practice.

In announcing the winners at the PPA 2021 awards, judges said they were so impressed with Sofia’s output and relentless efforts during 2020. One noted her work had been ‘truly inspiring – Superwoman doesn’t come close’.

They added that Sofia had met every challenge magnificently and was hugely influential in increasing the traffic to the Pulse news section, by ensuring coverage of the most important stories.

Pulse editor Jaimie Kaffash said, as it had been for everyone, last year was a tough year for Pulse and the pandemic hit just as Sofia returned from maternity leave.

‘The Pulse news team produced more and more stories that were vital for GPs, with a smaller team than ever. We broke huge exclusives, sending out multiple breaking news a day.

‘Sofia was at the hub of this, being an absolute superstar and her knowledge of general practice puts me to shame. “Superwoman” is certainly an understatement,’ he said.

The ‘unsung hero’ accolade adds to a number of awards Pulse has won in recent years including for its Covid coverage.

The news team also won team of the year in four of the past five years at the British Society of Magazine Editors Talent awards, scoop of the year at the same awards in 2020, and editor of the year at the Medical Journalists Association awards in 2020.

With weight constantly linked to the severity of Covid-19 during the pandemic, Nursing in Practice’s Summer edition looks at whether the Government’s latest obesity strategy will be effective.

The strategy includes plans to print calorie content on restaurant menus and ban the advertising of foods high in fat, sugar or salt on television and online in England before 9pm from April next year.

In March this year, the Government’s latest obesity strategy was allocating £100m to help with its plans, with money expected to be spent on weight management services and initiatives to help people lose weight.

The Tackling obesity policy paper, published by the Department of Health and Social Care in July last year, notes: ‘There is now consistent evidence that people who are overweight or living with obesity who contract coronavirus are more likely to be admitted to hospital, to an intensive care unit and, sadly to die from Covid-19 compared to those of a healthy body weight status.’

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, talking about having Covid-19 himself last year, said the severity of his illness – he was admitted to intensive care – was because he was ‘too fat’.

But this is the 14^th such Government strategy and high rates obesity in England show none of these have so far been consistently successful.

According to NHS data, in 2018 63% of adults in England were above a healthy weight and one in three children leave primary school being overweight or obese. This is calculated to cost the NHS £6bn a year.

To be successful, our articles highlights, this latest strategy must recognise and tackle inequalities across the country.

‘Obesity prevalence is highest amongst the most deprived groups in society,’ the obesity paper states. ‘Children in the most deprived parts of the country are more than twice as likely to be obese as their peers living in the richest areas.’

GP Matthew Capehorn tells us about an innovative initiative he set up in Rotherham in 2009 – the Rotherham Institute for Obesity, which helped people lose a cumulative 34 tons over three years. He suggests the Government’s strategy could be successful if it targets a lot of the money to weight management services ‘preferably in a primary care setting’.

Toni Jenkins, an obesity nurse specialist, agrees primary care has a central role to play in tackling weight issues. ‘There should be training funded by the Government for all nurses in general practice’, she urges.

After over a year of virtual, digital, and online events, it has never been more evident that facetime is a much-needed component for events. With this in mind, we are delighted to be hosting our audience of healthcare professionals in the latter half of this year at London, Newcastle, Birmingham, and Liverpool as our primary care brands return to face-to-face events.

Pulse LIVE, Nursing in Practice and Management in Practice are now open for registrations, and as usual can promise an exciting agenda of expert-headed sessions, interactive talks, a showcase of relevant products and services and the opportunity to meet the healthcare community once more.

Our face-to-face event line-up for 2021:

Pulse LIVE and Nursing in Practice:

• London – 30 September
• Liverpool – 5 October
• Birmingham – 11 November

Management in Practice:

• London – 14 September 2021
• Birmingham – 9 November 2021
• Newcastle – 30 November 2021

Pulse LIVE is the must-attend, free event for all practising, GMC-registered GPs and trainees. Put together by the team behind the award-winning Pulse and Pulse Learning, Pulse LIVE supports the education and development of grassroots GPs.

Nursing in Practice Events have toured the UK for 15 years, with a series of clinically-led conferences, welcoming over 40,000 primary care and community nurses.

Management in Practice Events feature a multi-stream agenda and supporting exhibition, giving Practice Managers, GP Partners, PCN and CCG staff, Primary care admin teams, and IT/HR/Support teams the chance to take a day away from practice to focus on their plans and strategy for 2021 and beyond.

In this issue of Hospital Pharmacy Europe, guest editorial Dr Tiene Bauters discusses how the pandemic has resulted in major changes in the delivery of scientific meetings and congresses, and how she envisages that a ‘hybrid approach’ enabling both virtual and physical attendance will best fulfil the intellectual and social needs of congress attendees in future. 

Stomas are not commonly understood by all healthcare professionals and can be mismanaged. In a gastroenterology focus, a team from St Mark’s Hospital, UK, discusses what stomas are, the different types, the consequences of living with a high output stoma and the pharmacological and dietary management of this condition.  

Emerging evidence suggests that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as fluvoxamine are effective in the treatment and prevention of acute and long COVID. An opinion piece in this issue discusses the real-world evidence and ongoing clinical trial programmes and argues that there is a need to evaluate available evidence for promising interventions and to adopt a rational, ethical approach to reducing deaths and the need for hospitalisations.  

We’re thrilled to announce that Cogora has been shortlisted six times at the prestigious British Society of Magazine Editors (BSME) Talent Awards 2021.

Pulse is up for Best Scoop; Best Deputy Editor; Best Section Editor; Best Digital Writer (B2B); and Best Editorial Assistant.

Nicola Merrifield; Sofia Lind; Costanza Pearce and Ellie Philpotts were singled out in the respective categories.

Meanwhile, Cogora features twice for Best Scoop, with both Ellie Philpotts’ Pulse exclusive on the Covid vaccine DES being due to be announced as soon as the following month, and Rachel Carter’s splash for The Pharmacist on Amazon getting the green light to push ahead with UK pharmacy trademark, among the frontrunners.

The winners will be revealed in a virtual ceremony on 1 July.

The BSME is the only society in the UK exclusively for magazine and website editors and senior editorial staff, and have already granted Pulse a number of wins and shortlists over the years, including ‘Cover of the Year’ and ‘Best Section Editor/ Team.

The Pulse June cover feature was on NHS England’s order to GPs to ‘open up’ and provide face-to-face appointments for GPs, which has dominated the news agenda. Our survey of 800 GPs, taken in the days leading up to NHS England’s announcement, revealed that GPs didn’t feel ready to return to ‘business as usual’.

We have an analysis detailing how a Covid vaccine booster programme might look in the autumn, based on discussions with numerous experts.

In the clinical section, we have key questions on domiciliary oxygen, alongside a guide on treating ongoing cough in patients with Long Covid, and a refresher on supporting diabetes patients during the time of Covid.

The 2021 Pulse LIVE and Nursing in Practice digital events have now launched across the HCP Connect^TM platform. Taking place between now and mid-August, the events feature live days of webinars themed around specific clinical areas and delegates can watch all webinars on-demand in-between.

So far, over 1,600 GPs have attended the Pulse virtual event and over 700 Nurses have attended Nursing in Practice. This week’s Women’s Health and Paediatrics webinars for Pulse LIVE were particularly popular with abnormal bleeding providing our most watched webinar so far. Delegates have also been visiting virtual stands and downloading sponsored resources throughout. Feedback has been fantastic with 90% of delegates rating sessions as ‘excellent’.

The next live webinars take place on 27th May for Nursing in Practice, focused on Chronic Conditions, and 3rd June for Pulse LIVE, covering pain, elderly care and cancer.

As the UK begins to open up, we are looking to the Autumn when face to face events resume for all our Media brands. However if you are interested in digital or virtual opportunities or perhaps would like to investigate hybrid solutions, please do get in touch.

Pulse revealed almost 100 GP surgeries shut in 2020, causing an estimated 263,000 patients to relocate to a different practice as a result. The story on practice closures was picked up by the national press.

Pulse Deputy Editor Nicola Merrifield was interviewed about the practice closures on LBC, and the story was also picked up by the Telegraph, the ‘I’ newspaper and the Express.

The findings from our annual investigation, based on sending freedom of information requests to all CCGs and health boards across the UK, comes after years of high numbers of practice closures, up from just 18 shutting in 2013.

GPs told us the same problems causing closures remain – including retirements, not enough staff, high workloads and escalating premises costs – and that tackling the Covid-19 pandemic has been another pressure to add to the list.

One year on from the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent increased awareness of the Black Lives Matter movement, plus the effects of Covid on ethnic minority people, Pulse looks at systemic racism within general practice.

Pulse looks into how the outcomes for minority ethnic GPs are worse than their white colleagues, and ask why this is.

Our annual investigation into practice closures revealed that almost 100 practices closed in 2020, bringing the total to almost 800 over the past eight years, forcing an estimated 2.5 million patients to move surgeries.

With the issues around the AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots, out top tips article will provide a useful guide to GPs on how they can help patients who may be concerned. 

Elsewhere in our clinical section, we address key questions on alcohol-related problems, breathlessness as a result of long Covid and we launch a new picture quiz series ‘Medical artihmetic’.

We also have a piece from a GP on spending 150 days in hospital with Covid, tips on supporting patients with learning disabilities, and Copperfield explains why life sucks.

We’re thrilled to announce two award nominations for the Pulse team at the PPA Awards.

Pulse Editor Jaimie Kaffash has been nominated for Editor of the Year, and News Editor Sofia Lind has been nominated for the Unsung Hero of the Year.

This comes after a fantastic year for Pulse with page views increasing by 265% year-on-year. Our coverage of Covid-19, and what has been a ‘hellish year for the profession’ was recognised by the British Society of Magazine Editor Awards earlier this year.

In its 41st year, the PPA Awards seeks to recognise, celebrate and elevate the achievements and progress made across the UK publishing and media industry.

Winners will be announced during a virtual awards ceremony on June 23 2021.

As schools went back after the UK’s third national lockdown, we looked at what effect the pandemic has had on children’s mental health on the front cover of the Spring edition of Nursing in Practice.

Nurses, particularly healthcare visitors and school nurses, have seen rising cases of mental health issues among young people who have struggled with being cut off from routine and social interaction with peers.

In the first six months of the pandemic last year there was a 27% rise in the number of children reported as killed or seriously harmed in England. The Children’s Society charity believes this is likely related to the pandemic as children were trapped in houses with their abusers.

Mental health issues for young people, such as eating disorders and suicidal thoughts, became worse and it was harder for them to access services, such as school nurses, who would normally help them.

The pandemic also seems to have increased the proportion of children with mental health issues. NHS Digital statistics show one in six children had a probable mental health condition in July 2020 compared to one in nine in 2017.   

However, we also reflected on the amazing work being done by healthcare professionals to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on young people.

School nurses have been doing ‘walk and talk’ sessions – talking outside to the young people while going for a walk – which enables them to see the young people face to face.

Whilst sometimes there are issues with technology, such as freezing when someone is talking about a sensitive issue, nurses have also used it to great effect. One even managed to stop a young person committing suicide through texting.  

We reported the Government allocated £79m of funding for children’s mental health in March. Although, charities have said this is not enough. The RCN trade union, charities and Nursing in Practice called for a school nurse in every school to avoid children suffering mental health issues into the future.

Although, this would likely require a massive recruitment drive as figures show there has been a 30% drop in the numbers of school nurses in England since 2010.

We are really happy to today launch Pulse PCN, the new hub containing information for primary care network clinical directors, the first of its kind.

It will contain news, views and analysis specifically for clinical directors – although will, of course, be free to any GP who is interested.

To kick off this new project, we have an in-depth analysis of the ‘mission creep’ that is taking place, with clinical directors finding themselves taking on more and more work than they originally expected. We also have the first of a regular column from Dr Nikki Kanani, the medical director of NHS England, discussing the inverse car law and the Covid vaccination programme. And we feature two letters from clinical directors on the new health bill, and musings on how Covid has affected the first couple of years of the PCN project.

In future weeks, we will be featuring Q&As with PCN leaders, a PCN Profile focusing on networks with unusual circumstances, more views, advice on hiring additional roles and other aspects of running a network, and lots more. Keep an eye out on the monthly (not completely 100% factual) bulletin from the Sackwell And Binthorpe PCSSIU in the coming weeks.

There will be a weekly newsletter, the first one of which will go out on Tuesday 8 April. If you wish to be added to the mailing list, contact our subscriptions team: [email protected].

There will also be a quarterly print supplement that will be sent automatically to PCN leaders with Pulse. Again, if you want to ensure you receive this, contact our subscriptions team: [email protected].

Pulse’s workload survey dominates the April issue. The survey of 1,400 GPs of a single day (1 March) reveals that GP workload is as high as ever, with almost half saying that their workload has implications for patient safety.

GPs also say that remote consultation – which has often been seen as a solution for GP workload – has brought about different pressures.

The Pulse clinical section answers key questions around breast problems, and we introduce a new series on Long Covid, with the first article focusing on breathing problems. We showcase our new Covid resource section, providing GPs with advice on precautions with the Covid vaccination, and we also provide a symptom sorter on diarrhoea.  

The CPD this month is on vaccinating hard-to-reach communities, or those that have a high level of vaccine hesitancy.

Elsewhere, we have updates on the vaccination programme as a whole, the future of the QOF and a new study on statins.