Insights into primary care so far...

Doctors AND health professionals are burnt out. They have been non-stop and have had to adapt to new ways of working overnight, yet somehow still, the media paints primary care in a bad light

They have delivered a vaccine rollout which has been pretty extraordinary, again, with a sudden complete mindset and system change, with great success.

GP Practices can be super adaptable and are actually some of the most open to trying new ways of working in the NHS. Be it from novel technology, to new roles through the ARRS. The only constant seemingly in primary care is change!

Yet despite ~80+% of patient interactions im the NHS being in primary care, the funding budget is ~10%. Perhaps herein lies an issue...?

Beyond that, income for practices is largely fixed to Global Sum Payments and is dependent on list sizes. Yet some players in this space are cherry picking healthier pts and leaving some smaller practices with the complex comorbid patients - but are paid equally.

There is a move to economies of scale for workforces. Merging practices, super practices, PCN hubs all benefit from a centralised workstream enabling specialisation and enhanced efficiencies.

If the work environment doesn't change dramatically for primary care staff soon, the burnout rates + those who reduce sessions will increase, only creating a further chasm between supply (HCPs) and demand (Pts).