Talking General Practice

Emma speaks to Professor Bola Owolabi, a practising GP in the Midlands and the chief inspector of primary care and community services at the CQC. Before this she director of the National Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme at NHS England, where she led the Core20PLUS5 approach to tackling healthcare inequalities.

Bola took on her role at the CQC in July last year at a particularly turbulent time for the regulator.

In this conversation, she discusses how the CQC is working to turn things around after facing significant criticism about its work, the development of a new sector-specific assessment framework for primary care, and how she hopes inspections will become a less stressful experience for GPs, practice managers and the rest of the practice team.

Bola also talks about her own experience of leading the turnaround of a GP practice in a deprived area that was rated inadequate, the role of the CQC in improving care and tackling health inequalities, and how the regulator views the move towards neighbourhood health and the use of AI in general practice.

This episode was presented by GPonline editor Emma Bower. It was produced by Czarina Deen.

Useful links
CQC regulators pioneers’ fund information
Lack of investment in community services will hit plans to shift care out of hospitals, says CQC
CQC mythbuster on AI in general practice

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Nick and Emma discuss how the BMA plans to respond when details of the 2026/27 GP contract are published, which are expected at some point this month, confusion about the time frame for neighbourhoods and how plans to ramp up advice and guidance could bring even more work to general practice in the coming year.

They also look at a couple of stories GPonline has published over the past week or so that show the increasing pressures GPs are under, including the difficulties many doctors have managing childcare arrangements as a result of work.

This episode was presented by GPonline editor Emma Bower and deputy editor Nick Bostock. It was produced by Czarina Deen.

Useful links
BMA reveals stance on 2026/27 GP contract referendum and collective action
NHS reveals commissioning plan for multi-neighbourhood providers
Why advice and guidance could pile more unsustainable work on GPs next year
Uptake of £80m advice and guidance DES falling short
What the Health Survey for England shows about pressure on GPs
Sixth of GPs have quit a job because of childcare pressures

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Emma talks to Robert McCartney, a senior associate in the corporate commercial team at the law firm Hempsons to discuss the shift toward a neighborhood NHS and what this means for the future of general practice.
In this conversation, Robert outlines the potential impact new single and multi-neighborhood provider contracts could have and discusses the growing trend of PCNs incorporating as limited companies in response to possible changes and the practicalities of doing this.
He also sets out some practical steps practices and PCNs can take now to prepare for the the reform ahead.
This episode is an extract from a recent video Robert and I did for our sister site GP Business’s Monthly Briefing series. You can watch the full video, which also includes Roberts thoughts on the future of the partnership model, by visiting https://www.gpbusiness.co.uk/article/1945845/video-neighbourhoods-will-affect-practices-gp-contracts If you are a registered user of GPonline you can use the same login details to access a limited amount of content on GP Business each month.

This episode was presented by GPonline editor Emma Bower. It was produced by Czarina Deen.

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This week Emma and Nick discuss a significant fall in the number of young GP partners, the reasons behind this and what the long term impact of this workforce shift might be.

They look at the exodus of UK-trained international medical graduate doctors to other countries and talk about why this group has been particularly hard hit by the GP jobs crisis. They also highlight the impact new legislation that will prioritise UK-trained doctors for specialty training posts could have in general practice.

And they discuss the latest on legal actions physician assistants are taking against GP practices, the RCGP and the BMA, after new scope of practice guidance lead to many practices reviewing their PAs’ roles and responsibilities.

Our good news story this week is about the national rollout of the WorkWell scheme which could help to reduce demand for GP appointments.

This episode was presented by GPonline editor Emma Bower and deputy editor Nick Bostock. It was produced by Czarina Deen.

Useful links
Young GP partners in freefall as risk and uncertainty take toll
Why a 'heartbroken' new GP gave up his dream career in UK general practice
How prioritising UK graduates will transform competition for GP training
Dozens of PAs bid for £7.5m damages from practices, RCGP and BMA

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Emma speaks to Patrick Denston about how GP practices can make the best use of new tech and what the next five years could hold.
Patrick is a PCN digital transformation and change manager and a practice business manager based in Farnborough, Hampshire, as well as an NHS England AI peer ambassador.
He has a proven track record of successfully introducing new technology into general practice. In this conversation, Patrick explains how his practice has moved away from manual, paper-based processes to embrace digital and AI tools and advanced data analytics.
He discusses how these tools are helping to improve access and address other challenges in the practice and also shares some very practical advice for other practices looking to embrace new tech, including how to navigate the busy market of tech suppliers.
Emma and Patrick also look ahead to the future of general practice, discussing the government’s 10-year plan and how AI and data-led population health management could fundamentally change the way practices operate over the next five years.
This episode was presented by GPonline editor Emma Bower. It was produced by Czarina Deen.
Useful links
Viewpoint: How can general practice make best use of AI?
AI tools in general practice and liability - advice for GPs
Using AI transcribing software in general practice - medicolegal considerations

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