Blog

Social prescribing link workers are on the front line of the fight for population health. They know it, but need more support to deliver on the promise of their roles, as Laura Lamming explores.

Oliver Standing, Director of Collective Voice, and colleagues from the Alliance Group, explore the opportunities offered by England’s new drugs strategy, as well as the challenges that lie ahead.

As demand for primary care services continues to grow, Martha Martin, GP trainee, explores how investment in improving the social determinants of health and time to develop relationships in multidisciplinary teams would help her to better support her patients.

Partnership working can be transformative – if it works well. Here we share two techniques, observed as part of the Healthy Communities Together programme, that can help in forming healthy partnerships.

Angela Fell, Director of Northern Heart and Soul in Wigan, outlines why we should move beyond person-centred services to a community-centred approach in order to transform people's health and wellbeing.

Aamena Bharmal reports on the findings from the 2020 survey of GP trainees – and is optimistic about the opportunities available in primary care.

Data, funding and workforce – if the government wants its proposed reforms to the MHA to create change these system-wide enablers are as important as individual changes to legislation. Helen Gilburt consider the issues.

As we reach the one-year anniversary of the start of lockdown in the United Kingdom, Richard Murray outlines how a whole-system response will best support staff and patients and help to tackle inequalities.

Working out how to embed new roles into general practice teams will be crucial to staff recruitment and retention. Beccy Baird considers the opportunities and challenges remote working offers for achieving this.

Primary care adopted digital technology at pace during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Beccy Baird reflects on research looking at why and how this was possible – and how positive changes can be sustained.

Helen Gilburt shares her research into how mental health and social care professionals make decisions around whether to detain people with mental disorders under the Mental Health Act or the Mental Capacity Act – Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. Her research uncovered a range of understandings and misunderstandings which impact on practice.

As the Covid-19 vaccine rollout gathers pace, Beccy Baird considers what has allowed general practice to meet the demands of this ambitious programme, and how community partnerships will be key to reaching those in need.

What have we learnt from our work supporting the development of primary care networks across England? Beccy Baird, Kiran Chauhan and Tricia Boyle share their learning about what groups find useful and pose some questions for PCN leaders and clinical commissioning groups who are thinking about development needs.

How can NHS services use their facilities to better support social prescribing? Ben Collins highlights what’s needed to make NHS sites more welcoming spaces for individuals and communities.

Digital tools and services are increasingly being used in health and care, but what happens to all the data that is collected, who should have access to it and who decides? Pritesh Mistry outlines the value of trust and transparency in these complex agreements

As the second wave of Covid-19 gathers pace, what role will general practice play, and how should the sector prepare for an increase in demand? Beccy Baird outlines the key challenges facing general practice as we head into winter.

Providing joined-up services that address people’s physical and mental health needs has long been a challenge. Jihad Malasi asks whether primary care networks could be the answer to providing holistic primary care mental health services.

Helen Gilburt reflects on the experiences of staff and people with mental health problems during the first months of Covid-19 and urges mental health services to learn from those experiences to plan for the future.

The Covid-19 outbreak has exposed gaps in psychosocial support for health care workers. Mary Docherty, Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust London, considers the action needed to address those gaps and meet the needs of the workforce in the future.