Situation vacant. Hiring in hard times

Management in Practice Summer issue is now available in print and online. Jeremy Hunt’s ‘new deal’ speech sparked a backlash from healthcare professionals. Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the British Medical Association’s general practice committee argues his case for primary care and offers suggestions on how general practice can survive and improve. There is a struggle across the UK to recruit GPs, even in some of the most desirable areas. We look at the scale of the problem and how some practice managers have managed to tackle the issue. It’s become increasingly popular for practices to join forces to varying degrees. This issue’s practice profile delves into Harness Care Group’s world to see how the Brent-based organisation manages 21 practices under one umbrella. The role of the practice manager is full of hard graft and a number of skills are needed to manage a team. Practice manager Brenda Nasr, winner of the General Practice Award’s Practice Manager of the Year Award 2013, discusses her journey into practice management. Her extraordinary story, takes her from the home of The Beatles, Liverpool, to Saudia Arabia. As usual information, guidance and support is on offer in abundance in the insight pages. In the HR section, expert Patricia Gray discusses compassionate leave, covering the importance of having systems in place when a member of staff suffers a bereavement. Developing and looking after the premises of a practice requires dedication, organisational skills and the understanding of the legal side to building improvements and two articles cover this subject. Bug busting is not something you want to have to tackle but an infestation has to be addressed. Dee Ward-Thompson, technical manager for the British Pest Control Association, explains how to prevent pests from making your practice their home. Securing patients’ data is fast becoming a concern with NHS England’s desire to link primary and secondary care data. James Wood, chief information officer and security officer from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), explains how the HSCIC advises on keeping patient records safe. And take a behind the scenes look at the CQC inspection process. Rebecca Gale, CQC inspection manager, discusses the role of the inspector and what a practice can do. To read these articles online click here.