Practice Business: the latest news, information and advice on business, legal and finance issues for GP practices

For GP news, comment, clinical and practice information, CPD, seminars and jobs

Latest In Practice Articles

QOF coding tips: psychosis and depression

23 Aug 10

Dr Simon Clay continues his series of articles on QOF coding by looking at why some patients are still required to have a mental health review long after they have recovered.

Google map of commissioning talks

23 Aug 10

Is your area leading edge or Luddite? Find out how meetings on GPs taking on commissioning are progressing across the country.

Practice dilemma: Police drugs enquiry

20 Aug 10

Your patient has been arrested by police but claims the drugs in her possession were prescribed by a GP in your practice. They call for confirmation of this. What should you do? Our legal expert advises.

In the eye of the storm

16 Aug 10

GP Dr John Howarth describes how he faced the unthinkable – coordinating the response after a compete wipeout of health services in his area.

Google map of the cost of practice-based commissioning

11 Aug 10
Getting the best out of your practice manager

10 Aug 10
Giving your practice an access overhaul

09 Aug 10
QOF coding tips: smoking status

04 Aug 10
Practice dilemma: Forgotten home visit

02 Aug 10
Do GPs just have to accept reduced income?

28 Jul 10

Latest Employment

Pain ahead on pay raises stakes for GPC

08 Sep 10

It is tempting to wonder if GPs will ever see a pay rise again.

We need GP maternity fund

08 Sep 10

Congratulations to Pulse for its investigation showing the postcode provision of locum payments made to practices when women go on maternity leave.

Trainee doctors shun general practice

07 Sep 10
Private firm's alternative career structure attracts disenchanted salaried GPs

07 Sep 10
GP vacancies up as locums report 'unprecedented demand'

31 Aug 10
Getting the best out of your practice manager

10 Aug 10
Half of PCTs fail to reimburse GP maternity costs in full

10 Aug 10
Practice dilemma: Discipline grievance

20 Jul 10
Practice dilemma: Extra pay for notice period

01 Jul 10
Don’t blame GPs for fit note shambles

21 Jun 10

GP commissioning tsar: 'We don't want clinicians turning into not very good managers'

10 Sep 10

GPs will not be forced to take on hands-on management roles in newly established GP consortia, the Government’s commissioning tsar has said.

Letter of the week: Commissioning will bury us in paperwork

09 Sep 10

I agree with your editorial that the Government should have piloted commissioning before pushing it on GPs.

Lansley to investigate Harmoni out-of-hours contract award

09 Sep 10
Lansley freezes GPC out of pay review

08 Sep 10
Buckman warns Lansley: 'No commissioning in the contract'

08 Sep 10
Lansley claims GPs' full backing for commissioning plans

08 Sep 10
In full: Interview with Dr Laurence Buckman

08 Sep 10
We must translate enthusiasm into action

08 Sep 10
Dr Laurence Buckman: 'We're in a phoney war period'

08 Sep 10

GPC publishes blueprint for GP consortia

10 Sep 10

The GPC has issued the first detailed guidance to GPs on how to go about forming commissioning consortia, warning organisations covering fewer than 500,000 people risk going bust.

More GP commissioning

Latest IT

Summary Care Record rollout pushes ahead as National Programme for IT axed

10 Sep 10

PCTs are forging ahead at a rapid pace with the Summary Care Record rollout, in a desperate bid to reach critical mass before the looming Government review of the programme, Pulse can reveal.

'Successful' Choose and Book escapes cuts

09 Sep 10

The Government has hailed the controversial Choose and Book system as a success and saved it from the axe while announcing £700m of cuts in other IT projects.

Reaction: The end of the National Programme for IT

09 Sep 10
Cheated by legal agencies?

08 Sep 10
Dr Laurence Buckman: 'We're in a phoney war period'

08 Sep 10
Explicit opt-in is BMA policy

07 Sep 10
Choose and Book use flagging as GP incentives pulled

06 Sep 10
GPs face fight for control of new 111 service

03 Sep 10
111 number to replace NHS Direct

31 Aug 10
Care record chiefs blame safety scare on 'software issue'

06 Aug 10

Practice dilemma: Police drugs enquiry

20 Aug 10

Practice dilemma: Forgotten home visit

02 Aug 10

A GP from your practice forgets to write up his notes from a home visit to an elderly patient. The patient subsequently requests a copy of her notes from the practice and the GP admits his mistake. What should you do?

What should you do if you are informed about domestic violence?

20 Jul 10
What should you do if your patient has a positive HIV test?

20 Jul 10
What should you do if you disagree about withdrawing a feeding tube?

20 Jul 10
What should you do if a patient is unable to give consent?

20 Jul 10
What is your role in a family disagreement?

20 Jul 10
Practice dilemma: Discipline grievance

20 Jul 10
When should you disclose information to police?

20 Jul 10
Practice dilemma: Practice staff smoking dope

14 Jul 10

Lansley to investigate Harmoni out-of-hours contract award

09 Sep 10

Health secretary Andrew Lansley has vowed to investigate claims that NHS managers transferred out-of-hours care in their area to a private firm without consulting local GPs.

GPs protest as out-of-hours contract transferred to private company

06 Sep 10

More than 200 doctors have delivered a petition to health secretary Andrew Lansley in protest at NHS managers’ decision to transfer out-of-hours care in their area to a private firm.

NHS Direct and the great macramé doily initative

25 Aug 10
Hundreds of NHS Direct advisers set to work from home

24 Aug 10
111 number launched as hotline for non-emergency urgent care

20 Aug 10
Why I am still on-call

16 Aug 10
GPs express fears over out-of-hours funding

04 Aug 10
From abroad

07 Jul 10
GPs demand referendum over OOH commissioning

29 Jun 10
Only local GPs should provide out-of-hours, say experts

24 Jun 10

Pain ahead on pay raises stakes for GPC

08 Sep 10

It is tempting to wonder if GPs will ever see a pay rise again.

HMRC tax clampdown leaves GPs facing £250,000 tax bills

19 Aug 10

Scores of GPs with unpaid tax who refused an amnesty offered as part of the HM Revenue and Customs clampdown on the medical profession have been left facing bills of up to £250,000, accountants say.

BMA issues tough defence of GP pensions

30 Jul 10

The BMA has launched a robust defence of GPs' pensions, insisting they are sustainable and represent value for money for the public.

BMA submission to the independent commission into public sector pensions

30 Jul 10

Read the BMA defence of NHS pensions for doctors.

Do GPs just have to accept reduced income?

28 Jul 10
GP pay to drop by a quarter following budget clampdown

01 Jul 10
BMA chair: Don't touch our pensions

28 Jun 10
Hundreds of GPs declare tax irregularities under tax amnesty

24 Jun 10
GPC agrees final distribution of GP pay award

08 Jun 10
Individual GPs' income to be published

01 Jun 10

more pay & pensions

Latest Practice Finance

Practice buying groups: a quick guide

06 Jul 10

As practices face a financial squeeze, interest is growing in buying groups, which can offer double-digit reductions in expenses. Here, Chris Locke – head of the LMC Buying Groups Federation – explains the advantages

Safeguard your contract cash

06 Jul 10

Practices are increasingly facing contract reviews as the NHS tries to save cash, with some even threatened with closure. Solicitor Daphne Robertson advises on how to protect yourself

Streamlining your medical costs

24 May 10
Resources to help boost your rent reimbursement

12 May 10
How to survive a sudden drop in income

10 May 10
Save thousands by disputing your practice rent valuation

07 May 10
How we keep an iron grip on our practice finances

21 Apr 10
Streamlining your practice buying procedures

19 Mar 10
Ten tips on how to write a successful business plan

05 Mar 10
How we serve socially excluded groups

05 Mar 10

Dr Laurence Buckman: 'We're in a phoney war period'

08 Sep 10

Watch the full-length version of Pulse's exclusive interview with GPC chair Dr Laurence Buckman.

In full: Interview with Dr Laurence Buckman

08 Sep 10

Read the full transcript of Pulse's exclusive interview with the GPC chair.

Record rise in NHS complaints

25 Aug 10
In the eye of the storm

16 Aug 10
GP consortiums set to ramp up referral management schemes

12 Aug 10
Extended hours set to disappear as PCTs review funding

09 Aug 10
Giving your practice an access overhaul

09 Aug 10
Practice dilemma: Forgotten home visit

02 Aug 10
GP access 'should be judged on wider range of measures', say experts

21 Jul 10
Federations likely to 'provide not commission services', says RCGP chair

14 Jul 10

RCGP move to temporary premises

27 Aug 10

The RCGP has temporarily relocated to new London headquarters whilst awaiting a permanent move to a brand new state-of-the-art facility.

Single-handed GPs claim 'aggressive' PCTs are targeting them for closure

25 Aug 10

GPs have accused their PCTs of harassing them in a bid to drive them out of their surgeries, as a crackdown on smaller and single-handed practices gathers pace.

Hold the schadenfreude - the first Darzi centre closure could be bad news for ordinary GPs

18 Aug 10
Darzi centre facing closure 'cheaper than neighbouring practices'

17 Aug 10
PCT to become first in the country to close 'unneeded' Darzi centre

05 Aug 10
Disputes over GP premises double in a year

05 Aug 10
GPs face decisions on whether to axe hospital A&Es and health centres

25 Jun 10
New premises for flooded GPs

23 Jun 10
Resources to help boost your rent reimbursement

12 May 10
GPs braced for small practice cull

12 May 10

NHS managers to go head-to-head with private sector to provide GP commissioning support

27 Aug 10

NHS bosses are preparing to pitch themselves into competition with the private sector to offer support to GP commissioning consortia by re-inventing themselves as social enterprises, in moves backed by GP leaders.

Hold the schadenfreude - the first Darzi centre closure could be bad news for ordinary GPs

18 Aug 10

If the first closure of a Darzi centre goes ahead, many GPs will celebrate, writes PulseToday editor Steve Nowottny. But there may be a catch…

Darzi centre facing closure 'cheaper than neighbouring practices'

17 Aug 10
Revealed: The 30-year contract with Care UK that GP commissioners will have to honour

06 Aug 10
Local council fights GPs' corner in contract row with PCT

30 Jul 10
Private practices and Darzi centres set for central role in GP consortiums

26 Jul 10
McKinsey: GPs 'must close hospitals to save cash'

23 Jul 10
Private sector services to benefit under Government plans

23 Jul 10
Government urged to show some 'cojones' and ramp up NHS private provision

23 Jul 10
White Paper could 'force all GPs onto short-term APMS-style contracts'

19 Jul 10

QOF has narrowed health inequalities

10 Sep 10

The Quality and Outcomes Framework has narrowed health inequalities by cutting admissions and deaths from heart disease most in deprived areas, new research shows.

Dr Laurence Buckman: 'We're in a phoney war period'

08 Sep 10

Watch the full-length version of Pulse's exclusive interview with GPC chair Dr Laurence Buckman.

Measuring quality with a blunderbuss

03 Sep 10
A new QOF indicator, you say? How about this...

01 Sep 10
Practice size 'makes no difference' to QOF achievement

01 Sep 10
QOF experts advise some thresholds 'should be raised to 100%'

26 Aug 10
NICE invites new QOF indicator submissions

24 Aug 10
QOF coding tips: psychosis and depression

23 Aug 10
Patient survey to become optional as phase-out begins

16 Aug 10
Treat physical inactivity as a disease, argues GP expert

12 Aug 10

GMC recruits staff to tackle fitness-to-practise backlog

10 Sep 10

The GMC has been forced to take on more staff to deal with the huge surge in GPs being referred by GP medical directors to appear before fitness-to-practise panels.

GMC claims 'huge support' from GPs for streamlined revalidation plans

09 Sep 10

The GMC has claimed that its latest plans for revalidation have received overwhelming backing from GPs, and insisted this week that a scaled-back version of the controversial scheme 'is going to happen'.

The best-laid plans of mice and men

18 Aug 10

Strip-lighting illuminates an anonymous laboratory, in the latest 'Through the K hole'

Good riddance to revalidation

12 Aug 10

Pulling the funding for the appraisal toolkit will mean a lot of cutting and pasting for GPs, says Copperfield. But while we're talking about cutting...

Post-Shipman fitness-to-practise overhaul falls victim to cuts

11 Aug 10
GPs urged to review procedures for meningitis

03 Aug 10
Spiralling legal costs for negligence claims against GPs

03 Aug 10
Government pulls plug on funding for NHS appraisals website

02 Aug 10
GPs given right to choose responsible officers

28 Jul 10
GMC updates web-tool to address GP legal concerns

20 Jul 10

more on regulation and clinical governance

latest services

GPs left facing funding shortfall as extra investment in enhanced services fails to materialise

02 Sep 10
GPC to push for optional commissioning DES to avoid GP contract rewrite

25 Aug 10
GPs 'can spot long-term sick three years early'

18 Aug 10
How our children's clinic cut A&E visits by 40%

09 Apr 10
Government cranks up pressure on GPs to offer extended hours

31 Mar 10
Chancellor leaves it to trusts to fill £25bn Budget black hole

25 Mar 10

more Services