Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and a shortage of trained physicians, almost all GP practices in the UK are struggling to keep up with demand. This has made running a GP practice extremely difficult. However, there are some things that GP practice managers can do to help manage the pressure and regain or retain a measure of control. If you want some simple tips to help you improve your GP practise, then keep reading below:
1. Get to Know Your Practice
Before you can improve your GP practice, you must get to know your practice well. This means you need to read reports and understand any data about your business. As well as this, you also need to take time to talk to business consultants and your accountant about what is happening in the surgery.
2. Focus on Patient Care
Although it is not always easy for GPs and other healthcare professionals to meet their target of spending at least 37 hours a week on direct patient care, this is what you should aim for. To achieve this, employing other staff members to take over any paperwork for your physicians might be advisable.
3. Delegate to Your Team
Running a GP surgery is hard work. You have a lot of essential tasks to complete on a daily basis, as well as a few less important ones. If any of these tasks can be completed by another employee, consider delegating this job to them. This will allow you to focus your time on more critical tasks.
4. Reduce Business Costs
We all know that the NHS is struggling. Because of this, everyone working in it must do their bit to try and reduce costs. One way a GP practice can do this is by searching for a cheaper supplier of GP equipment. However, if you choose to do this, you must ensure the equipment you purchase is good quality.
5. Offer a Competitive Salary
If your GP practice is struggling to hire or retain employees, it might be time to look at the salaries you are offering. Although it can be tempting to try and cut costs by reducing salaries, this can significantly impact employee retention rates.
6. Confirm Appointments
Very few surgeries in the UK confirm appointments with their patients. While this is a very labour-intensive job, it can help to ensure that none of the appointments in your practice go to waste.
Bureaucracy, under-funding, high demand and recruiting are just some of the challenges GP practices face. However, the great news is that GP practices in the UK are doing a lot to try and address these issues. Not only are they finding innovative ways to care for their patients, such as offering them appointments over the phone, but they are also finding ways to reduce costs. If you run a GP practice and are looking for other ways to improve the practice, why not try out some of the suggestions above?
