The Changing Face of General Practice
General Practice continues to change at pace with digitisation and transformation of GP service delivery all accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. At practice level, primary care has altered dramatically in the past year, with staff both clinical and administrative, adapting to new ways of working. This has heightened the skills requirements, for GPs, clinicians and for all members of the non-clinical teams. The continued transition to the PCN model presents its own challenges around changing business models, funding challenges, an increasing governance burden, all coupled with a now digital population with changing expectations.
These pressures are driving the fundamental transformation in general practice services with our focus now firmly on general practice services that will be able to work at scale within the framework of the PCNs and Integrated Care Services. We are witnessing the development and expansion of the healthcare workforce and improved practice environments – clinical pharmacists, link workers, physiotherapists, dieticians, mental health practitioners, paramedics amongst others are all part of the new PCN frameworks. Improving our ability to signpost patients to the most appropriate service or where more appropriate supporting them to self-care.
General practice working as part of a more joined-up primary care workforce that will be able to devote the greatest amount of time to quality and health improvement for patients and local communities. What matters now is getting on and delivering it so that practices can start to make a difference and patients can start to feel the difference. The pandemic has enabled many PCNs to come into their own in the crisis, collaborating well, sharing workforce and developing their thinking around localised decision making.
How do we best continue to develop a mindset that sees its transformative future as progressive and opportunistic, skills focussed on core competencies of a practice manager will need investment and development. Practice managers have a pivotal role to play in ensuring all aspects of risk and governance, operational efficiency, resource planning and management, and in ensuring that the conflicts are managed effectively. To maximise business impact in today’s NHS and drive future success, PMs must become more responsive and flexible, to drive change effectively – ‘it’s not about doing more with less, it’s about doing more but, doing it differently’ and better! It’s equally important to involve patients in improving service levels and communication is a vital and sometimes, often overlooked role of the practice.
There is no doubt the role of the PM is changing. You have become a much more strategic part of the practice. Core skills will always focus on the financial management of the practice but will shift increasingly towards business planning, change management, leadership, influencing skills, facilitation and coaching skills. PMs will increasingly be central to the leadership of the practice and your ability to manage and lead change will be critical to the essential transformation of General Practice. Successfully implementing multidisciplinary team working within general practice means not only new roles but also a big shift in mindset. Will this solve the challenges facing primary care?
One general consensus is that, whenever this crisis finally passes, the landscape of how General Practice functions may have changed forever – and for the better. It may also have changed the way the patients think and act in terms of seeking help for their health.
The one fact remains and that is that we will continue to evolve.
If you would like to attend the conference, please contact the team at conference@pma-uk.org
We thank our sponsors for their support. You can read all about them here.
We thank our sponsors for their support. You can read all about them here.
Conference 2021 overview and objectives
Conference 2021 will enable you to discuss and explore how to meet these new challenges. We hope you have a good day, with some excellent and thought-provoking speakers and some excellent workstreams plus the opportunity to network with the exhibitors and of course, with fellow delegates for 2021 we have also added a number of elements that will enable you to invest some time in your own wellbeing and resilience.
The 3rd South Yorkshire Practice Managers’ Conference 2021 will help answer some of your most pressing issues and concerns, as well as providing practical tips for improving your practice.
The conference offers multiple opportunities to learn, knowledge share with peers, and generate real momentum for change in your practice, partnership or PCN. The programme has been developed through research across the region.
The third South Yorkshire Practice Managers Conference 2021 has moved to Sheffield – and has been created to provide General Practice health professionals with access to new ideas, new ways of doing things, to build new relationships and create new partnerships. Our goal was to create a programme that is relevant and timely, offering practical insights.
Delegates will:
- Obtain updates on the strategic plans and updates on PCN development across South Yorkshire
- Learn and share best practice outcomes with peers and understand what makes a good leader
- Knowledge share with peers and leading healthcare professionals from across the UK
- Access to exhibitors – a selection of leading healthcare suppliers, including technology companies, associated suppliers, consultants, and others from the sector
- Take away real advice and guidance – practical solutions and new initiatives that can be applied within your Practice, Partnership or PCN.
- Attend a wellness session and a specialist workshop.