GPs buried under trusts' workload dump

This month, Pulse tackles the workload dump from secondary care on to GPs. Contractual measures were placed on hospital trusts in 2016 that prevented them from imposing blanket policies of discharging patients back to their GP if they miss appointments.

Hospitals were also told they have to send discharge summaries to GPs within 24 hours. However, Pulse’s investigation reveals that hardly anything has changed since these measures were brought in.

We have an analysis of primary care networks, in association with Pulse Intelligence. PI is the only place you can find details about all the networks in England, including their member practices and size. In the November Pulse, we ask how the first few months have gone and whether there are any cracks within these marriages of convenience.

Elsewhere, in our Big Interview, the new inspector for primary care tells us she wants the CQC to be seen as a ‘critical friend’. We have an opinion piece from a German-born GP who says he will be considering his place in a post-Brexit Britain, while Copperfield discusses the many disappointments that patients have to go through when dealing with secondary care.

In the clinical section, we have a casebook on allergies and ten top tips on dementia.