As we launch this year’s PMA Awards, we chat to Andrena Newton – Senior Receptionist at Peterloo Medical Centre in Manchester. Andrena picked up the award for PMA Reception Manager of the Year last year. How do you start your day?Morning isn’t my favourite time of day at all, with the alarm set for 6.45 every day (maybe with a snooze press once or twice) its then a race to wake the children up (one for work, one for college. The youngest leaves with me and I drop off at school en route). I dart into the shower and prepare to leave the house at 8am. I live a short motorway journey away from ..read more

As PMA prepares to launch its 2023 awards, we chat to Martin Randall of Leatside Surgery in Devon. He won the PMA Practice Business Manager of the Year at last year’s awards. How do you start your day?I am a morning person so set my alarm for 5.30am. This gives me time for breakfast, coffee, a run and time with my family before heading into work for 7.30. I’m lucky enough to live only ten minutes from work so don’t have to worry about the time lost with a commute. My morning starts with a catch up with my Operations Manager and Reception Team Leader at 7.45 to make sure ..read more

Guiding Principles ‘High-quality care and support that is safe, consistent and person-centred’ is what we would all aim to achieve. They are also the stated guiding principles for the ‘Delegated healthcare activities’ from the Department of Health and Social Care and Skills for Health. The delegation of some activities undertaken by regulated professionals, such as nurses, to care workers, is not new. In fact, it has been happening for some time, and was identified in research by York Consulting in 2022 as providing more ‘timely and flexible delivery of activities, resulting in better conti ..read more

Sheinaz Stansfield is the Managing Partner of Oxford Terrace and Rawling Road Medical Group, an award-winning Practice in Gateshead, and a Development Adviser with NHS England. She won a PMA Lifetime Achievement Award at last year’s Best Practice Show. This year’s awards will open for nominations next month.  How do you start your day?I usually check all the various WhatsApp groups, practice, PCN, national, socials and emails, with a cuppa. I always watch the news in the morning – this alerts me of anything I may need to be aware of that may hit our reception desk first thing (a bad h ..read more

Priorities for the CQC’s Local Authority Assessments As the Health and Care Act 2022 required, the priorities for the Care Quality Commission’s Local Authority Assessments have been set out. It is agreed that the quality and person-focused nature of care provided can have a major impact on wellbeing and quality of life of those receiving it. Consistency in the provision of this is also key, crossing sector and provider boundaries with seamless care. It, therefore, follows, that the monitoring and assurance systems required to ensure performance, transparency and accountability across all H ..read more

After years of working for a bank supporting clients in the healthcare sector, I have a great understanding of how successful practices structure themselves. The practice structure can be considered from both an internal and external viewpoint. Internal – looks at the day-to-day operations – staffing and utilisation of skills. External – takes a step back from the business and looks at the wider picture – examining how the practice is equipped for the future. So just what is the key to a successful practice? It is having someone with a business focus driving the practice. Benchmarking perfor ..read more

Staff recruitment and retention are a challenge. This a statement most would agree with, and some may think it a major understatement. In June 2022 the Health and Social Care Workforce Committee reported that a further 490,000 jobs would be needed in the care sector by 2030 to meet demand. Yet by August vacancy rates rose above pre-pandemic levels at 8.2%. Add to this the doubled levels of sickness and absence, and we clearly have a crisis, that cannot simply be ridden out. Something needs to change. A general consensus of opinion is that this is a workforce who have been and are under sign ..read more

GPs and other medical professionals have supported the PMA in rejecting the former Health Secretary’s calls to charge for GP appointments and A&E visits. Sajid Javid described the present model of the NHS ‘unsustainable’, adding “Too often we hear doctors and nurses frustrated at people making unnecessary trips to frontline services, which takes time from other patients. Would the same level of demand exist here if this Irish model were adopted? This extends to GP appointments.” In the Republic of Ireland, 70% of the population are charged a fee to see the GP. However, in a cross-section ..read more

THE PMA is calling for the rhetoric surrounding the so-called lack of face-to-face appointments with GPs to end, as reports of abuse towards Practice staff continues. Violence, abuse and criminal damage is never acceptable in any healthcare setting and many Practices are now highlighting their zero-tolerance policy. “There seems to be a trend fuelled by certain newspapers and exacerbated by some politicians that seeing a GP is virtually impossible and this is so far from the truth,” said Ian Jones, PMA Director. “This has been going on for some time now and it seems to have turned into a pol ..read more

THE annual PMA Awards ceremony has taken place at the 2022 Best Practice Show hosted at the NEC in Birmingham last week. Thousands of healthcare professionals attended the show across two days, which including presentations on many issues in primary care, including Succession Planning, ARRS roles: integrating and managing multi-disciplinary teams, managing GP Practice Finance and customer and conflict management. It was standing room only at a packed PMA Theatre as the prestigious award ceremony began, celebrating excellence in management across all areas of the health and social care sector ..read more