Talking General Practice

GPs hit by list cleaning chaos, neighbourhood contracts, access vs continuity

Talking General Practice

Show Notes

This week Nick and Emma talk about list cleaning, after an analysis by Nick showed that 350,000 patients have been removed from GP practice lists, resulting in a loss of around £45m from practice funding. Nick explains why this happens and the impact it has on individual practices.

They discuss GP contracts, looking at the first area in England that has agreed a local variation to PCN contracts, BMA fears about what neighbourhood and integrated health organisation contracts could mean for general practice and whether financial pressures on the current GP contract could make GPs back an alternative model.

And they look at the impact successive governments’ obsession with GP access has had, after a report from the House of Commons public accounts committee found that practices struggle to provide the care frail, older patients need because they are overwhelmed with targets linked to improving access.

Our good news story this week is about an initiative in Greater Manchester that has helped cut hazardous prescribing.

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

Useful links 'Aggressive' list-cleaning drive strips 350,000 patients from GP practices 'We're overwhelmed' - practices swamped by scale of patient removals GPs agree first local PCN contract variation in £10m neighbourhood deal Hospital-led general practice 'likely' outcome of government NHS plans, warns BMA NHS England has overloaded GPs with access targets, MPs warn

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More from Talking General Practice

Oct 23, 2026

This week Emma speaks to Professor Andy Brooks and Dr Liam Loftus from the National Association of Primary Care, about the drive towards neighbourhood health and what it means for general practice. Andy is the NAPC’s clinical chair and Liam is head of policy at the organisation.

Oct 16, 2026

This week Emma and Nick look at a whole host of GP contract issues, including changes to the GP reimbursement scheme, an update on list cleaning, NHS England threatening possible contractual action over same-day access and what GPs want from next year’s contract.

Oct 9, 2026

This week Emma speaks to Dr Adrian Hayter, a GP partner in Windsor and Chief Medical Officer at NICE. Adrian discusses why he made the move to NICE and what having a practicing GP in senior leadership at the organisation means for primary care as the NHS shifts focus towards community-based care and neighbourhood health teams. He explains how NICE is working to accelerate guidance approvals, how guidelines can be made more accessible for frontline clinicians managing patients with complex multi-morbidities, and the role of the upcoming Single National Formulary - and what it will mean for GPs, pharmacists and primary care teams. Adrian also explains how NICE is adapting its evaluation frameworks for emerging health technologies, including AI tools and medical-grade wearables. This episode was presented by GPonline editor Emma Bower. It was produced by Czarina Deen. Useful links MHRA and NICE aligned pathway: how it's working in practice - article on NICE’s website Information about NICE’s lifecycle approach to guidance development The Pharmacists’ Summit - from MIMS Healthcare Network Two evenings of online learning on 30 November and 1 December for pharmacists working in primary care. For more information and to register for your free place visit: https://www.mimshealthcarenetwork.co.uk/mims-learning-live-digital-the-pharmacists-summit

Oct 2, 2026

The GPonline team discusses the latest news affecting general practice.

Sep 29, 2026

In this bonus episode of Talking General Practice Dr Netty Kinsella, uro-oncology nurse consultant and clinical lead for urology cancer diagnostics and active surveillance at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, speaks to GPonline editor Emma Bower about urological cancer.

See all episodes →