As winter approaches so does the cold and flu season. While we may no longer be getting the daily inundation of COVID-19 statistics, this does not mean that the virus has gone or that GP practices do not need to take it into consideration when planning for the upcoming winter period. The New COVID-19 Variant …
More people will be able to access health services without needing to see a General Practitioner (“GP”) under a new proposed plan (“The Access Recovery Plan”) launched by Department of Health Social Care (“DHSC”) officials in England on 9 May 2023. The Access Recovery Plan proposes that patients now use high street pharmacies for common …
Government plan set to refer more patients to pharmacies Read More »
Ridouts have observed that the CQC have intensified the aggressive presentation of inspections and inspection reports over recent months. This is particularly noticeable in the CQC attitude to primary care and GP practice interactions. Unsurprisingly, but, most unfortunately many of those engaged in front line inspection lack any medical qualification or experience, and, when that …
The CQC is changing its approach to how it regulates GP practices. My colleague, Gemma Nicholas, recently wrote an article outlining the CQC’s new strategy and regulatory approach and what this might mean for practices. The CQC has released further detail on how it intends to assess providers within its new regulatory model; including its …
How The CQC Will Score Practices Under Its New Regulatory Approach Read More »
On Monday 19 September 2022 the UK is having a bank holiday to mourn and commemorate Queen Elizabeth II who reigned for 70 years. This official bank holiday extends to GP services who will be allowed to close for the day on the Queens funeral. NHS England wrote a letter (“The Letter”) to GPs on …
NHS patients in England who have been waiting for more than two years for surgery are being offered hospital treatment in alternative parts of the country. Subsequently, more than 6,000 long term waiting list patients are being offered travel costs and accommodation costs in an attempt to tackle the NHS backlog. The aim of this …
NHS patients in England to be offered chance to travel for surgery Read More »
A recent poll by GP Online found that four in five GP partners said that their practice had been unable to recruit a locum doctor when they needed one within the past six months. Locum GPs have become increasingly important in recent years given the current workforce crisis and the survey also found that nearly …
How staffing levels can affect your CQC inspection rating Read More »
Earlier this year the British Social Attitudes (“BSA”) survey found that public satisfaction with GP services had hit its lowest point since the survey first began in 1983. Satisfaction with GP services dropped to 65% in 2017 – down seven percentage points compared with the previous year, and the biggest one-year change since the survey …
Low Patient satisfaction could lead to increase in complaints and CQC inspections Read More »
Ridouts is a team of specialist health and social care lawyers, providing dedicated legal advice for care homes, GP practices, children’s homes, dental practices, domiciliary and home care agencies, supported and independent living services and both private and NHS hospitals.
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