Leadership in Practice

In this episode I'm joined by a Practice Manager I've known of for years, but never met.Nicola Davies is the brains behind an award winning training program for Practice Managers practice. I thought it was high time we met and a good way to do that would be a conversation about training Practice Managers. Nicola has a wealth of experience in Practice Management and you can feel the passion. She cares deeply about training and supporting her PM colleagues and she generously shared her time and knowledge to provide bucket loads of great advice for practice managers and partners, on the best way to train and support the Practice Manager.Nicola Davies, has worked for 41 years in General Practice. From medical secretary to co-founder of the IGPM, she’s led practices across the UK, championed practice manager support in Cornwall, and co-designed an award-winning training programme for managers in primary care. Her depth of experience and passion for education, primary care and practice management is inspiring.  The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be.In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice.If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe onApple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.

In the first episode of 2026 I explore Practice KPIs with Edward Rigby. It’s an area I’ve always had a great interest as I believe they are quite possibly a managers most valuable information. Used correctly, KPIs improve decision making, keep you in control and reduce conflicts. Edward Rigby, a Managing Partner at Malpas Surgery a rural dispensing practice in southwest Cheshire, demonstrated he is an expert of this and shared plenty of insights and advice. Edward has over seven years in practice management and is dedicated to improving local health outcomes. He has an MBA and is passionate about quality improvement and regularly shares best practice across primary care through writing, speaking, and teaching.The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be.In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice.If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe onApple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.

In this episode I chat with Sarah Rhodes, a three-time Practice Manager of the Year. Sarah has achieved something genuinely remarkable. She has not lost a single team member in more than five years. I was blown away hearing how she has done it, from listening and flexibility to creating a culture where people truly want to stay and grow. Her approach is authentic, inspiring and practical and full of ideas that any practice can learn from and put into action.Sarah is a Practice Business Manager from Avicenna Medical Practice in Bradford. She has a Masters in Health and Care Management and a long-term passion for staff training and development and this has translated to great results in terms of staff morale and retention. The practice has won several awards, and amongst everything Sarah does there she is also a Finance Director of Bradford Care Alliance for an IGPM Regional Rep.The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be.In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice.If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe onApple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.

In this episode, I explore what general practice can learn from other sectors. Like many practice managers, I came into the role from elsewhere—the veterinary and optometry world, in my case—and those experiences gave me skills and perspectives that proved invaluable. General practice can sometimes be insular and inward looking, believing it’s too different—or even superior—to other sectors. But there’s real value in looking outward. Many brilliant PMs rise through the ranks internally, while others bring fresh insight from successful careers elsewhere. There’s no single best path but stepping in from the outside can offer lessons worth sharing.Pete Woodward is a Managing Partner at Cheadle Medical Practice in Greater Manchester where he’s been since 2021. Alongside this he is responsible for overseeing two other Stockport practices and he was voted the national ‘Practice Manager of the Year’ in 2024. He is also a Non-Executive Director for Viaduct Care, Stockport’s GP Federation.The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be.In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice.If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe onApple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.

I was scrolling through LinkedIn one evening, when I came across a great question posed by Ed Kennedy. The question was ‘do practice managers impact patient outcomes?’Well as an ex-practice manager I thought absolutely they did, but it was something that I didn’t consciously think about when I was back in practice. I thought this was a great question for an episode of the podcast, so Ed joined me for a really wide-ranging conversation that showed just how almost everything a practice manager does impacts patient outcomes. Ed Kennedy is Managing Partner at a two-site GP practice in Hampshire, caring for 14,000 patients and leading a team of 60 staff. He has spent his career in healthcare, beginning in community pharmacy, moving into the pharmaceutical industry, and spending the past decade in primary care management. He has a Master’s in Health Economics, Policy and Management from the London School of Economics, with academic research focused on how leadership—particularly non-clinical leadership—affects health outcomes. His dissertation explored the role of Practice Managers in shaping patient care and system performance, an area often overlooked in health policy and research.Ed is a Director of the Institute of General Practice Management, where he leads on national dispensing issues, and is committed to raising the profile and professional standards of practice management. He has a particular interest in the sustainability of general practice, workforce leadership, and evidence-based decision-making in primary care.The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be. In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice. If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe onApple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.

I believe every practice should have a managing partner. That should be the most senior non-clinician, probably the Practice Manager. I believe it’s to the benefit of the practice, the partners, the staff and the patients. Yet only a small number of practices have a Practice Manager Partner. In this conversation we explore the role of the Managing Partner and I hope it will give food for thought for those thinking about becoming a Partner, or inviting their Practice Manager to join the partnership.Our expert for this discussion is Robyn Clark, a practice manager in South Gloucestershire and a director of the IGPM. She is an HR practitioner by background with experience of working in secondary care, mental health trusts and community health services, and is passionate about employee engagement, coaching and mentoring.The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be. In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice. If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.

This episode is a must listen for Practice Managers, PCN Managers, Finance Partners, and anyone else who might be looking after the money. It’s a really helpful episode, that’s worth sharing.Finance in primary care is complicated, and different to most other businesses. It can be a challenge even for the most experienced. Step Forward our guest for this episode, Katy Drew, a Chartered Accountant and ex Practice Manager who just gets it, and shares loads of easily understood and great advice.As Head of Primary Care Development at Sandison Easson Specialist Medical Accountants she helps Practices to be resilient in the current climate through practical help and advice leading to strong financial management. Having spent part of her career in practice management she is keen to support managers in translating financial information so they are able to present data in an accessible and understandable way to GP partners. She is a motivational and enthusiastic trainer who inspires confidence in those she works with at both individual practice level and through courses and conferences The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers, Partners and all Leaders in general practice and primary care. If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership at www.leadershipinpractice.co.uk.If you need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected], or on LinkedIn.If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on our website or at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite Podcast platform.

Is your own personal growth really important to you, and have you got a passion for developing your team?I’d answer yes to both of those questions, but sometimes you hit a bump in the road that you’ll only get over with some additional expert help. Whether it’s for your own growth, or developing others, coaching should be in every leaders toolbox. Kristi Adams joins us to explain coaching and its many benefits, and shares a simple tool to help you when you’re coaching your own team.Kristi's journey into healthcare started when she became a young carer at the age of seven. Kristi worked in the NHS for over 15 years. As her career developed, Kristi discovered a natural skill for listening and empowering people to discover their inner resources. In 2015, after having life changing coaching herself, Kristi founded Attigo Coaching and Development. Kristi is a CPD-accredited coach specialising in healthcare leadership. She holds a PCC credential with the ICF (The International Coaching Federation), is a Neuro-Linguistic Programming Practitioner and DISC Practitioner. She coaches clinical and non-clinical leaders across the NHS, community, and voluntary sectors, providing them with much-needed time and space to pause, reflect, and plan. Kristi is a trainer at The Coaching Academy. She holds various coaching and training associate roles across healthcare and since 2017, has been a lead tutor and coach on the NHS Leadership for Personalised Care Programme.  Kristi is a Health Service Journal Award winner, at the forefront of healthcare service innovation. She trains leaders to re-design appointment systems, so that some patients are consulted in groups, as opposed to one-to one with their GP or nurse. The result is that patients wait less time to be seen and need to be seen less often.The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be. In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice. If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe onApple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice. 

Agreeing our values is important, for a practice as much as it is for us as individuals.Living our values is essential for primary care and is so connected to what we do in general practice and primary care networks. They are often identified and declared but rarely do we see evidence beyond this. That might be because it’s difficult to do, or it’s poorly understood, or it’s not known what to do once our values are identified.On the face of it, it’s a straightforward thing to do, but there’s far more to it. Which is why we our values are often decided but not always visible. The further I got into a really enjoyable conversation with Jane Martin, the more I learned.Jane Martin is the Founder and Director of Flow Consulting and is a communications and relationship expert Jane is a communications and relationship expert with over 25 years experience across a range of B2B, both client and agency side. Jane is a psychologist, psychotherapist, facilitator, NLP practitioner and coach, with a corporate background in publishing and pharmaceuticals. She has worked extensively both clinically and corporately over many years to help individuals and teams thrive.Trained as a psychotherapist and psychologist, she holds an MSc (Dist) in Organisational Development.Jane’s understanding of how we function as humans enables her to deliver fresh insights to her clients and challenge them to think beyond the obvious - believing that good leadership starts from within. This approach is underpinned by a strong commercial awareness to ensure practical application to a range of corporate roles, and creates a powerful learning experience for the delegates and return on investment for clients.Jane works deeply and holistically with clients – bringing in her role as a qualified breathwork practitioner and in nature-connectedness to support clients to harness their natural and internal resources - physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual.You can contact Jane Martin here:[email protected]: 07801 298929The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be. In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice. If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe onApple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.You can reach us at [email protected].

Resilience is now a must have skill for leaders and managers in primary care, such are the demands and pressures of the job, In this episode we talk to Farnaaz Sharief, join in and you’ll be listening to a real expert on resilience. We learn how to navigate and build resilience, she teaches us how to look after the resilience of our team, and what to do when our own resilience is flagging.At the end of Farnaaz’s brilliant, simple, and accessible advice, that is useful for everyone, we both give our usual podcast takeaways.In the conversation we also reference some breathing techniques which you’ll easily find with a simple internet search, Here are two links to get you started:Box breathingStraw breathThe Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be. In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice. If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe onApple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.

In this episode we dive into the crucial topic of ‘purpose’. It’s an area that is not always fully understood, or embraced, and we explore what we mean by purpose, what it means for a practice or PCN, and what makes it more than just words on a wall. The conversation looks at how central principles are powerful and helpful in guiding and uniting us in today’s challenging primary care environment. We consider:What do we mean by a purpose and how is it different to a mission or a vision.Why is a purpose important to organisations in primary care and what benefits does having a purpose provide? If you haven’t defined your purpose, how should you approach doing thatThrough the conversation we also reference some great further reading:Alive at Work by Daniel Cable.Will it make the boat go faster by Ben Hunt-Davis and Harriet BeveridgeBelonging by Owen EastwoodStart With Why by Simon SinekSimon Beesley is the founder of Growth Consulting, a purpose-driven company dedicated to fostering sustainable change in healthcare where he works with NHS Trusts, ICB’s, GP practices and PCN’s. With over 30 years of leadership experience across the NHS and private sectors, Simon specialises in empowering leaders to align their teams around purpose, fostering environments where people thrive. His work centres on leadership development, operational improvement, and creating cultures that deliver lasting impact for teams, patients, and communities.Simon can be contacted at [email protected] Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be. In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice. If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe onApple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.

I suspect succession planning and talent management are unfamiliar activities for many in general practice and primary care. Maybe they’re not on your radar, or you’re not sure what they mean or whether they’re relevant to a practice or primary care network. But I’ve found they can often be happening to some degree but without much structure or in a way that maximises what can be achieved.The reality is that its absolutely something worth doing, whatever the size of your practice or PCN, and can have great benefits in terms of staff engagement, motivation, development and the sustainability and resilience of the organisation.In this episode Chris Locke returns to discuss succession planning and talent management, and how they can work for you. Chris Locke has been working with organisations, both public and private sector for over 30 years supporting the assessment and development of managers, aspiring leaders and C-suite executives. His role and his passion is helping people realise their potential through a range of tools including coaching, psychometrics, training and facilitation.If you would like to know more you can email him on:[email protected] or sign up for his talent development newsletter at: realisingyourpotential.com/sign-up. The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers, Partners and all Leaders in general practice and primary care. If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership at www.leadershipinpractice.co.uk.If you need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected], or on LinkedIn.If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on our website or at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite Podcast platform.

Primary Care Networks are now an important and established part of the primary care landscape but as Tara Humphrey points out in this episode, with multiple organisations coming together it takes a lot of time, thought, reflection and planning to try and build the relationships.We can be certain that Primary Care Networks, in one form or another, are here to stay, so I wanted explore the complex relationships between primary care networks and practices. There is possibly no one better to have this conversation with than Tara and together we discussed: The current status of PCNsWhat a really great PCN Practice relationship looks likeWhat are the key ingredients What you can do to improve a challenging relationshipWe also each give our usual podcast takeaway to help you if you’re a practice or PCN struggling with your relationship. Tara Humphrey is the Founder and CEO of THC Primary Care, primary care network specialists providing interim Primary Care Network management, PCN facilitation, consultancy, training and resources.She is also the host of the Business of Healthcare podcast, a prolific blogger and social media contributor and has featured in an impressive number and range of publications, podcasts and webinars. The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers, Partners and all Leaders in general practice and primary care. If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership at www.leadershipinpractice.co.uk.If you need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected], or on LinkedIn.If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on our website or at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite Podcast platform.

If you think you should only speak to your lawyer when something has gone wrong, you might want to think again. This episode with Edwina Farrell was a real eye opener. It left me in no doubt that your lawyer is there to prevent things going wrong, and to make it less costly if the worst does happen. Keep listening if you’re a Partner in practice, or a Practice Manager taking the lead on governance and legal matters, and you'll hear Edwina share a wealth of knowledge on:Partnership agreements to Property Profit share to disrepute And much, much moreWe also each give our usual podcast takeaway to help you avoid these legal pitfalls.Edwina Farrell leads the primary care team at Weightmans and advises GP practices, individual partners, local medical committees and those who work with them. She has a broad experience in the way in which general practice and its finance operates and as such is able to bring a holistic approach to GP partnership business, property and dispute work. She is a medical partnership expert and is widely recognised as a specialist NHS GP advisor. Her work includes partnership formation, retirement, mergers and other contractual arrangements such as partnership contract variations as well as some practice disputes. She has been involved with collaboration projects with health and emergency service providers and is widely known for negotiating robust and 'GP friendly' property transactions especially in connection with landlord and tenant matters. Edwina can be contacted here.The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers, Partners and all Leaders in general practice and primary care. If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership at www.leadershipinpractice.co.uk.If you need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected], or on LinkedIn.If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on our website or at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite Podcast platform.

The relationship between the Practice Manager and the Partners is the most important one in the practice.So much is impacted by this relationship and when it’s positive it benefits everything and everyone, but a negative one can be extremely damaging. It’s a complicated relationship, where the expected hierarchy and the usual dynamics of the employer and employee often don’t work.In this episode I am joined by Ben Allen a GP Partner and a Sam Fellowes a Practice Manager to explore the workings of this important but complex relationship. Together we discuss:·         What a good relationship looks like·         The key factors that create a strong relationship·         What to do if the relationship isn’t working Ben Allen is a GP Partner at Birley Health Centre, a NHS Clinical Entrepreneur and the host of the podcast, Reimagining General Practice. Sam Fellowes is the Practice Manager at Birley Health Centre.The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers, Partners and all Leaders in general practice and primary care. If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership at www.leadershipinpractice.co.uk.If you need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected], or on LinkedIn.If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on our website or at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite Podcast platform.

General practice, PCNs and federations are businesses in every sense of the word but it’s not always easy to get everyone involved to acknowledge this.Its sometimes even harder for all concerned to adopt that approach to the management and ownership of these organisations.I wanted to explore what it means to ‘manage a business in primary care’ and invited George Gavriel, a GP with all the right skills and experience to help me. He shares his thoughts on:Why it’s important to manage your practice or PCN as a business. What ‘manage as a business’ looks like.Some important do’s and don’tsAnd how a business management qualification like an MBA helps you manage your primary care business. We end by each giving you one business management approach to takeaway and use in your practice or PCN. George Gavriel is an experienced GP, leader and educator with an impressive portfolio of roles and responsibilities in primary care businesses.He is:GP Partner at The Swan Practice, BuckinghamshireClinical Director of The Swan Network PCNDirector of Buckinghamshire GP Provider AllianceBOB ICB Board member for Primary Medical ServicesHe has an MBA and a PGCMDEThe Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers, Partners and all Leaders in general practice and primary care. If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership at www.leadershipinpractice.co.uk.If you need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected], or on Linkedin.If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on our website or at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite Podcast platform.

This episode is as much for GP Partners as it is for Practice Managers. It will help you if you’re setting the expectations or expectations have been made of you. What’s expected of a Practice Manager can vary greatly, and they’re often unrealistic and damaging. When that happens it’s usually to the detriment of the practice and Practice Manager, but get it right and it can deliver a successful practice and Practice Manager.In this episode Peter Maynard joins me to discuss ‘What’s expected of a Practice Manager’, and we consider;Typical expectationsUnrealistic expectationsWhat to do if expectations aren’t being metWhy it’s important to set the right expectations We also each give our usual podcast takeaway to help you if you’re a PM struggling to meet the expectations you’ve been given.Peter Maynard is the Executive Partner at Horfield Health Centre, an 18,000 list size practice in Bristol. He is also the Institute of General Practice Management Regional Representative for Bristol, North Somerset and Gloucestershire. He began his primary care career in 2017 and prior to this had a long and successful career as a solicitor.   The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers, Partners and all Leaders in general practice and primary care. If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership at www.leadershipinpractice.co.uk.If you need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected], or on LinkedIn.If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on our website or at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite Podcast platform.

The interviewer you are listening to in this podcast is ‘Niamh’, an AI voice powered by PlayHT, https://play.ht/.I wanted to do a solo episode to share more about my career, interests and Leadership in Practice, but I don’t find recording solo enjoyable or easy, so instead I thought I would try something different. It was certainly easier and loads more fun, and I love how it’s turned out. Enjoy!The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers, Partners and all Leaders in general practice and primary care. If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership in my book Leadership in Practice and my blogs, both of which you can find at www.leadershipinpractice.co.uk.If you need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected], or on Linkedin.If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on our website or at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite Podcast platform.

The role of a Practice Manager has changed greatly since I joined general practice in 2008. The responsibilities are varied, extensive and significant, and in any other sector they would be in the job description of a Managing Director or Operations Director. The Practice Manager is running the business in every sense, and to succeed in such a fast paced, complex and demanding environment a broad range of skills is needed, and increasingly the support of a strong, dedicated and specialised team.In this podcast I was privileged to be joined by Kay Keane to discuss:What do the responsibilities of the typical Practice Manager look like today and what are the essential skills and qualities needed to meet these? What are those special or additional skills and qualities that can set you apart as a Practice Manager?What skills and qualities will be the most important for the Practice Manager in the future? And we each give one takeaway to help you with your development as a Practice Manager. Kay Keane is a Practice Manager at Urban Village Medical Practice in Ancoats, Manchester, a unique practice having a standard contract, but also a contract to provide health care to the city’s homeless community. Kay is also a founding member and Director of The Institute of General Practice Management, Director and Trustee of the National Association of Link Workers, and she is regularly seen providing keynote speeches and chairing session at the leading primary care conferences. The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers, Partners and all Leaders in general practice and primary care. If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership in my book Leadership in Practice and my blogs, both of which you can find at www.leadershipinpractice.co.uk.If you need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected], or on Linkedin.If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on our website or at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite Podcast platform.

Most Practice Managers will have experienced conflict in the practice partnership. That might be constant and never ending niggles and discontent, to full-blown infighting and hostility. It may be between partners or even between the Practice Manager and one or more partners. Whether the Practice Manager is part of the conflict or not they are almost certainly at the centre, and trying to manage relationships, keep the peace and the practice functioning. I wanted to find out more about this and what the Practice Manager can do to avoid conflicts occurring and what they can do when it all goes wrong.In this episode I am joined by Dr Clare Sieber and we discuss:What forms do conflicts in a general practice partnership normally take, and what can we do to prevent them happening. If a conflict exists in your practice, what can the Practice Manager or Partner do to (a) manage the relationships, (b) make sure the ‘working practice’ isn’t disrupted and (c) try and resolve the conflict.What are the important things you should do and the things you should never do if you are having to manage a conflict. Takeaways – we each give you one thing to take away and try if you are having to manage a conflict. Dr Clare Sieber is a practising GP in West Sussex , and also a mediator, co-CEO of The Well-led Practice, and a dabbler in medico-politics and the Deputy Chair of England LMC Conference.As the co-founder and co-CEO of The Well-Led Practice, she helps practices and PCNs to assess and enhance their leadership and team dynamics, using data and evidence-based guidance, whilst evidencing CQC 'well-led'. https://www.well-ledprovider.com/gp She also runs General Practice Mediation, which provides mediation services to GP partnerships, practices, PCNs and federations. She has successfully mediated many cases, saving time, money, and relationships for her clients. The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers, Partners and all Leaders in general practice and primary care. If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership in my book Leadership in Practice and my blogs, both of which you can find at www.leadershipinpractice.co.uk.If you need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected], or on Linkedin.If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on our website or at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite Podcast platform.

If, like me, you've never really embraced, understood, or been a fan of QI or quality improvement, this podcast might make you think again. QI is firmly established in primary care. We see it in QOF, CQC and programmes like GPIP, but I wanted to know more about what it is and how to use it as a tool or programme to improve your practice or primary care network. Primary care as a community is always keen to improve and there's never been a greater need than now. In this episode, you'll hear from Tracy Green, an expert in quality improvement and primary care who shares her knowledge of QI and gives us a far greater appreciation of this valuable tool.We get the answers to:What is QI and why it’s important to general practice and primary care networksHow to introduce QI into your practice or PCNWhat are the important do’s and don’ts with QIAnd as we like to do, we end with a couple of great QI takeaways for you to try.Have a listen, you might just learn to love QI a little bit more.If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership in my book Leadership in Practice and my blogs posted on LinkedIn.  If you need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected]. You can also connect with me on Linkedin or by visiting leadershipinpractice.co.uk The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be.  In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice.  If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on Apple Podcasts for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.

In this episode of the Leadership in Practice podcast I am joined by Chris Locke to discuss how we can successfully lead in impossible situations. The current climate in primary care makes this a very real and challenging situation with pressures on so many fronts making it feel impossible to provide effective leadership. We discuss what to do when you find yourself facing the seemingly impossible and provide some advice on what you should do, and also what you should avoid doing.If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership in my book Leadership in Practice and my blogs posted on Linkedin.  If you’d need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected]. You can also connect with me on Linkedin or by visiting leadershipinpractice.co.uk It will be great to connect with you.  The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be.  In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice.  If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe onApple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.

We’ve been through so much difficulty and change recently, the thought of more is daunting.  Yet as we begin recovering from this crisis, we face more change. We’ll have time to get it right, and to make it less painful, but we may not know where to begin and anxiety might make us hesitant to start. In this episode I share the steps you can take that will help make providing the leadership out of a crisis, an effective and more comfortable journey for you and everyone else.If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership in my book Leadership in Practice and my blogs posted on Linkedin.  If you’d need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected]. You can also connect with me on Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook or by visiting leadershipinpractice.co.uk It will be great to connect with you. The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be.  In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice.  If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.

Right now it can be hard to find things to look forward to, and jobs that we loved may have become monotonous or all consuming.  If you find yourself in that situation it will be no surprise if you’ve lost your motivation. It’s an unhappy place for you and for those around you, who are sure to notice. When this happens it can be hard to get your enthusiasm back but you don’t have to wait for it to happen. In this episode I share some positive steps to help you get your mojo back.If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership in my book Leadership in Practice and my blogs posted on Linkedin.  If you’d need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected]. You can also connect with me on Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook or by visiting leadershipinpractice.co.uk It will be great to connect with you.  The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be.  In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice. If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.

General practice is fast paced and constantly changing. Demands from patients and stakeholder are ever increasing as is the need to be constantly in touch with them. And this year has shown more than ever how we constantly need to share messages and information on a frequent basis to everyone. Meeting this huge challenge is massive but the benefits for a practice and its patients can be considerable. Social media offers the solution but has general practice really embraced and used it to its full advantage? Common concerns can be, “what do I use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram?” “It will just give a platform for negative comments and we’ll end up spending hours replying to the messages.” If you want to start realising the benefits of social media, then you need to answer these questions and build a plan that works for your practice. In this episode we’re joined by marketing Consultant Chris Rogers who shares some advice on how to do this.If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership in my book Leadership in Practice and my blogs posted on Linkedin.  If you’d need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected]. You can also connect with me on Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook or by visiting leadershipinpractice.co.uk It will be great to connect with you.  The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be.  In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice.  If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.

Most leaders are likely to find themselves leading through a crisis at some point. This last year has almost certainly put every leader in that position. In a crisis panic, fear and anxiety can affect everyone. For a leader you might want to lock the door, bury you head and run away and hide from the problems.When you’re leading through a crisis the vision and goals can be lost in a battle to just keep standing and operating. Doing this constantly is exhausting and morale falls without a sense of direction and when you’re always treading water.A leader in this position may have to do things differently and in this episode I share three key areas that can ensure success for a leader, the team and the practice, even in a crisis.If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership in my book Leadership in Practice and my blogs posted on Linkedin.  If you’d need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected]. You can also connect with me on Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook or by visiting leadershipinpractice.co.uk It will be great to connect with you.  The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be.  In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice.  If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.

Every manager or leader needs a way of knowing how their practice is doing. Is everything going well or are there problems ahead? Without this it’s like driving blindfold. You need a system and a set of measures that monitors, measure and tracks the most important areas of the business and practice. Whether you call them key performance indicators, metrics or your dashboard, for managers and leaders in practice, it’s an important, if not the most important, tool. It’s how you know if you’re on target to achieve your goals or if changes are needed. It provides essential information for your biggest decisions, and it can tell you where the problems are before they really hit. Maybe you’re not doing this because you don’t know what to monitor, or you believe that everything is fine, but if you can’t see you don’t know what’s happening. In this episode I share how you can put your own system of measures in place and how you can use them to help you manage and lead your practice.If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership in my book Leadership in Practice and my blogs posted on Linkedin.  If you’d need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected]. You can also connect with me on Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook or by visiting leadershipinpractice.co.uk It will be great to connect with you.  The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be.  In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice.  If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.

If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership in my book Leadership in Practice and my blogs posted on Linkedin.  If you’d need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected]. You can also connect with me on Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook or by visiting leadershipinpractice.co.uk It will be great to connect with you.  The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be.  In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice.  If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.

If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership in my book Leadership in Practice and my blogs posted on Linkedin.  If you’d need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected]. You can also connect with me on Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook or by visiting leadershipinpractice.co.uk It will be great to connect with you.  The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be.  In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice.  If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.

In this episode of the Leadership in Practice podcast I look at how the role of a PM can be lonely and the negative impact being lonely can have. But there are ways to avoid this and these are readily available to you.I’ll tell you what these are, how best to use them and how they can help you.If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership in my book Leadership in Practice and my blogs posted on Linkedin.  If you’d need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected]. You can also connect with me on Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook or by visiting leadershipinpractice.co.uk It will be great to connect with you.  The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be.  In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice.  If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.

For any business, its vital to know what your customers think, to continually evolve and improve and to make sure you’re in tune with want they need and want. For general practice it’s no different yet how feedback is collected is at best unsophisticated and more often pointless and of little or no value. In this episode I share some thought and ideas on how you can improve how the feedback you gather from your patients.If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership in my book Leadership in Practice and my blogs posted on Linkedin.  If you’d need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected]. You can also connect with me on Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook or by visiting leadershipinpractice.co.uk It will be great to connect with you.  The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be.  In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice. If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.

How often have you come away from a meeting amazed at how many people said nothing. Or maybe you sat silently through it. It’s not uncommon. In part this can be through not knowing the role you’re expected to perform when you attend a meeting, or not being pushed to fulfil a role. In this episode I’ll look at the role that everybody has when they attend and how this can improve your meetings.If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership in my book Leadership in Practice and my blogs posted on Linkedin.  If you’d need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected]. You can also connect with me on Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook or by visiting leadershipinpractice.co.uk It will be great to connect with you.  The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be.  In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice.  If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.

There have been many occasions where I’ve been in a workshop with practices that are talking about working together and committing to do exactly this. Way more often than not nothing happens because an essential part of the commitment is missing; there is no shared vision for the collaboration. I expect you may have experienced this too. In this episode I talk about vision. What it is, and what it isn’t. Why your Primary Care Network or collaboration needs one and how you create your vision.  If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership in my book Leadership in Practice and my blogs posted on Linkedin.  If you’d need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected]. You can also connect with me on Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook or by visiting leadershipinpractice.co.uk It will be great to connect with you.  The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be.  In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice.  If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.

In this episode of the Leadership in Practice podcast I look at how important it is to be ‘plugged in’. This means being up to date, informed and engaged and is one of the most valuable things a leader can be. I talk about what you need to do to get plugged in and how it can really help you as a manager and leader. If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership in my book Leadership in Practice and my blogs posted on Linkedin.  If you’d need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected]. You can also connect with me on Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook or by visiting leadershipinpractice.co.uk It will be great to connect with you.  The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be.  In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice.  If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.

In this episode of the Leadership in Practice podcast I look at how important it is to be ‘plugged in’. This means being up to date, informed and engaged and is one of the most valuable things a leader can be. I talk about what you need to do to get plugged in and how it can really help you as a manager and leader. If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership in my book Leadership in Practice and my blogs posted on Linkedin.  If you’d need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected]. You can also connect with me on Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook or by visiting leadershipinpractice.co.uk It will be great to connect with you.  The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be.  In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice.  If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.

PM’s often find having more than one manager challenging. The role can be as good as the partners are but it can depend on how you manage them.  In this episode of the Leadership in Practice podcast I look at how you can successfully manage more than one manager by breaking the problem down to parts:Manage the individualsManage the groupManage yourself If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership in my book Leadership in Practice and my blogs posted on Linkedin.  If you’d need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected]. You can also connect with me on Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook or by visiting leadershipinpractice.co.uk It will be great to connect with you.  The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be.  In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice.  If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.

In this episode of the Leadership in Practice podcast I look at what will be the role of the Practice Manager in the future. We can expect it to be different but what is driving these changes? I’ll talk about these things and also what are the three essential skills for a Practice Manager in the future; leadership, first class business skills and collaboration. If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership in my book Leadership in Practice and my blogs posted on Linkedin.  If you’d need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at [email protected]. You can also connect with me on Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook or by visiting leadershipinpractice.co.uk It will be great to connect with you.  The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers and all leaders in general practice and if you are in this role, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be.  In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice.  If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe onApple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.