NEWS


Manager Practice


Positive patient relations are


key to providing good care and a growing number of practices are setting up patient participation groups (PPGs) to gather feedback and suggestions. PPGs need not be just another box-ticking exercise and on page 8 Joanne Curran looks at what is involved in setting up a successful group. Is a supermarket the right


IN the increasingly complex world of general practice it is vital to keep reviewing the bread and butter of our core services. The handling of mail and results continues to be an area of signif- icant risk and, when reviewing the handling of results, including the whole team in this is vital. Potentially everyone working in the practice may influence this system, and there is opportunity for things to go wrong. Frequent review of your system and maintaining staff awareness is key. Liz Price offers advice in her article on page 12. An example of how results handling failures can have worrying consequences is highlighted in our case study on page 14 where an abnormal result is missed. Care Quality Commission inspections can be a source of concern for practices and PMs, and on page 7 the CQC’s James Hedges describes what to expect when your practice is inspected.


place to establish a branch GP surgery? The King’s Fund think tank recently endorsed the idea and more in-store surgeries are sprouting up around the UK. In our profile on page 10 Jim Killgore visits a practice with a consulting room in a Sainsbury’s superstore at Heaton Park near Manchester. They are often the first point


of contact for patients but receptionists have a reputation for sometimes being unhelpful and “surly”. On page 6 Jim Killgore looks at new research which debunks this myth. Strong personalities can upset any practice team and on page 5 employment law adviser Liz Symon offers some useful advice for managers on dealing with personality clashes among staff. Meanwhile, our Call log on


page 4 covers covert recording, disclosure of records, dental treatment planning and the security of voicemail messages.


 Aileen Wilson Editor


Vaccinations pose


workload challenges GENERAL practice surgeries in the UK face increased workload chal- lenges with new government initiatives on vaccinations kicking in over the next year.


In April the Department of Health in England announced a national


catch-up programme to increase MMR vaccination with cases of measles hitting a record high. Public Health England (PHE) and NHS England will be working with GPs and local authorities in targeting a million children for vaccination by September. PHE estimated there are a “third of a million” unvaccinated 10- to


EDITOR: Aileen Wilson FIHM


ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Jim Killgore Joanne Curran


DESIGN:


CMYK Design www.cmyk-design.co.uk


PRINT: Creative Print London www.creativeprintgroup.co.uk


CORRESPONDENCE: PM Editor MDDUS Mackintosh House 120 Blythswood Street Glasgow G2 4EA


t: 0845 270 2034 e: PM@mddus.com w: www.mddus.com


Practice Manager is published by The Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland, Registered in Scotland No 5093 at Mackintosh House, 120 Blythswood Street, Glasgow G2 4EA. The MDDUS is not an insurance company. All the benefits of membership of MDDUS are discretionary as set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association.


16-year-olds and the programme will focus on rapidly identifying these individuals on GP registers and promoting immediate vaccination in time for the next school year. In Scotland, Chief Medical Officer Dr Harry Burns announced in


April that NHS Boards will be writing to parents of all unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children aged 10-17 with an invitation to attend for vaccination.


Said Dr Burns: “While measles will continue to circulate throughout the UK, risks in Scotland are much lower due to our higher uptake rates and the work already undertaken over the last 18 months.” The Department of Health in England has also announced a series


of changes to the current vaccination schedule to include three new programmes to protect against flu, shingles and rotavirus. The rotavirus vaccination programme will start on 1 July 2013 when


children under four months will be routinely vaccinated against this highly infectious illness. In addition, children aged two years (around 650,000 in total) will be offered a nasal flu vaccine from September as part of a number of pilot programmes to vaccinate primary and pre- school aged children against seasonal flu.


SUMMER 2013  ISSUE 8


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16