Partners bail as practices head for the rocks

The first reveals six areas where GP partners are voluntarily jumping ship from their practices and taking on salaried roles. Pulse reporter Sofia Lind looks at the reasons why partners are taking this decision and how NHS England’s ‘new models of care’ are driving this model forward. In a linked editorial, Pulse editor Nigel Praities takes a long-term view of the independent contractor model and concludes that an urgent debate is needed over its future. ‘This cornerstone is looking increasingly like a millstone, ’ he says. The second investigation looks at shocking new figures that show vulnerable children are being refused vital mental health treatment. The investigation by Pulse journalist Caroline Price finds that two-thirds of GP referrals result in no treatment at all, and over a third is not even assessed. This investigation featured in the national media this week. Elsewhere, Pulse is declaring a ‘War on Workload’ by asking GPs to send in their ideas about how to cope with the demand on practices. The crowd-sourcing exercise will be run over the next few months, with the ideas collected and published as a manual for all practices to share. Also in the issue, Pulse hosted a roundtable discussion of GPs looking at how to encourage more medical graduates to choose a career in general practice. We also have former RCGP chair Professor Clare Gerada urging a major change to GP training to boost numbers – including bringing back the SHO role. There are 4.5 CPD hours in the issue, with articles on end-of life care, illicit substance misuse and what GPs should do if all their partners want to leave. Read the July issue online, or download our app.