Knowledgebase

Tax-free 
childcare (TFC) scheme during Covid-19

If you or your spouse/partner have ‘adjusted income’ under £100,000 in this tax year, you may be entitled to support under new rules

Reducing risk 
on busy days

Dr Rachel Birch from MPS provides practical advice on how GP locums can catch omissions such as missed referrals, and prevent similar incidents in future

Podcast | The Sessional GP Magazine June 2020

e-learning – Tinnitus

Mental health comes to the fore in new NICE guidance, published March 2020

Death-in-service benefits from the NHS: Are you returning to work due to COVID-19?

Find out about the death in service benefit, and private options available to GP locums returning to work during lockdown

e-learning – Leg ulcer infection: antibiotic prescribing

A NICE update on antibiotic prescribing for leg ulcers published in February 2020 includes a good visual guide to best practice

e-learning | Sotagliflozin with insulin for type 1 diabetes

A new guideline from NICE from February 2020 advises that sotagliflozin can be used alongside insulin for type 1 diabetes

GP locums and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS)

Advice for GP locums claims SEISS income support during lockdown after losing work: who's eligible and how to claim

e-learning | New treatments for hyperkalaemia

New guidelines from NICE update the guidance on prescribing sodium zirconium cyclosilicate and patiromer

A lockdown diary – a journal of our times

NASGP's columnist records the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK: Ocado queues, home haircuts and a temporary reprieve from FOMO

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) – new NICE advice

PERC tests, anticoagulants, D-dimers, stockings and cancer investigations: a stack of new advice on VTE in guidance

Medicolegal risks for GP locums during Covid-19

GP locums may be asked to work in new ways in unfamiliar environments as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. Dr Rachel Birch, medicolegal consultant at MPS, advises on dilemmas they may face

Podcast | The Sessional GP Magazine April 2020

Richard Fieldhouse recaps the latest issue of the Sessional GP magazine: financial support for locums, medicolegal advice on remote working, a GP locum's lockdown diary and a clinical update on treating leg ulcers

Antimicrobial resistance: can we outrun evolution?

NASGP's columnist on life before – and possibly after – antibiotics

BMA IR35 guidance

Read the union's 2020 advice for GPs.

Actions after incorrect use of combined hormonal contraception (ie missed pills guidance)

The FSRH provided a good summary of guidance for those advising women about what to do after a missed pill

Impetigo, antibiotic use and hydrogen peroxide 1% cream

New guidance advises GPs consider using hydrogen peroxide cream as a first line in localised non-bullous impetigo

Financial assistance for locum GPs in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic

Advice on SEISS and Universal Credit for GP locums whose income has been affected by Covid-19.

e-learning | Indoor air quality

GPs are advised to start looking for at-risk patients, signposting patients to local authority housing assessments, and giving guidance on risk reduction

Ensuring a locum GP is a self-employed contractor, not an employee

There are a number of important differences between employees and self-employed contractors

Giving effective feedback to a GP colleague

Dr Rachel Birch presents two case studies of GP locums who fed back to practices.

Returning from parental leave

Given how tricky it can be to return to work after maternity leave, it's a good idea for GP locums to get their taxes in order before they're back behind the desk

e-learning | Thyroid disease

Symptoms may lag behind treatment changes by weeks, or even months, new NICE guidance warns

Podcast | The Sessional GP Magazine February 2020

Cluster headaches and gammaCore

About 5 people a year in the UK commit suicide because of cluster headaches. The side-effects from conventional medications and the monitoring required can be difficult.

e-learning | Hypertension in pregnancy

Louise Hudman introduces the latest guideline on hypertension in pregnancy from NICE.

Parental benefits

The New Year seems an appropriate time to think about new babies, so here we consider some money matters you might need to think about.

Life after VTS: my journey to life as a jobbing GP locum

Like many highly skilled professions, a career in general practice can be a journey with obstacles to overcome, barriers to navigate and choices to make. NASGP member Tina Sumner describes how she came to be working as a GP locum and how NASGP has helped her in that journey.

Have yourself a merry 
risk-free Christmas

Dr Rachel Birch, Medicolegal Consultant at Medical Protection, offers practical advice on how to make this year as safe and enjoyable as possible.

Podcast | The Sessional GP Magazine December 2019

When can I retire?

Many of us are looking down the barrel of our ‘normal retirement age’ being 67. A chilling thought.

Breaking the rumination trap

Have you ever been stuck in a swirl of negative thoughts, rehashing things that you should or shouldn’t have said or done? Most of us will recognise this circular self-battering, a process known as rumination.

e-learning – Fever in under 5s

The main update this year is around Kawasaki disease. It used to be that Kawasaki disease was diagnosed if children had 4 out of 5 features.

e-learning | Rivaroxaban for preventing atherothrombotic events

This is a new guideline from NICE advising that rivaroxaban plus aspirin can be used in the prevention of atherothrombotic events, under certain circumstances. It was published in Oct 2019. This is quite a big change in practice.

Podcast | Social prescribing – I’ve seen the future of 
general practice…

A partner in a North London practice was feeling burned out. The crushing target-chasing workload was no longer offset by the reward of helping patients. The BNF had no remedy for the distresses of modern life which patients were bringing into her consulting room. She, like her patients, was ground down.

Off duty dilemmas

As doctors, we may sometimes feel that we are never off duty. Even when we are not at work, those close to us may seek our advice on medical matters, or even request for emergency medical assistance.

e-learning | Hypertension in adults

The biggest difference is that NICE encourage us to have much more of a discussion with patients about whether to start medication and what to start. Helpfully, they have provided some patient decision aids, which are really good.

Can someone who is paid through their own limited company be a worker or employee?

An Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) agrees that out of hours GP paid through her own company was a worker.

Podcast | October 2019 magazine out now

Alacoque describes a legal case where a locum's tax status was different to their legal status, Rachel's being a Good Samaritan, Judith's been looking at therapeutic spaces, Louise has summarised the Nice hypertension guidelines for us, plus much more.

Dapagliflozin with insulin for patients with Type 1 Diabetes

This is a new guideline from NICE on using dapagliflozin in patients with Type 1 diabetes.

e-learning | Management of hyperparathyroidism and high calcium

This is a new guideline from NICE on managing high calcium (Ca) levels and hyperparathyroidism published in May 2019.

Locums as educators – every day is a learning day

Every day is a learning day in general practice. We are constantly learning from patients, members of the primary care team, and our secondary care colleagues.