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General practice is the name given in various nations, such as the United Kingdom, India, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa to the services provided by general practitioners. In some nations, such as the US, similar services may be described as family medicine or primary care. The term Primary Care in the UK may also include services provided by community pharmacy, optometrist, dental surgery and community hearing care providers. The balance of care between primary care and secondary care - which usually refers to hospital based services - varies from place to place, and with time. In many countries there are initiatives to move services out of hospitals into the community, in the expectation that this will save money and be more convenient.
NHS Direct was the health advice and information service provided by the National Health Service (NHS), established in March 1998. The nurse-led telephone information service provided residents and visitors in England with healthcare advice 24 hours a day, every day of the year through telephone contact on the national non-geographic 0845 46 47 number. The programme also provided a web based symptom checkers on the NHS Direct website and via mobile, both as apps for iPhone and Android smart phones and a mobile website.
General medical services (GMS) is the range of healthcare that is provided by general practitioners as part of the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. The NHS specifies what GPs, as independent contractors, are expected to do and provides funding for this work through arrangements known as the General Medical Services Contract. Today, the GMS contract is a UK-wide arrangement with minor differences negotiated by each of the four UK health departments. In 2013 60% of practices had a GMS contract as their principle contract. The contract has sub-sections and not all are compulsory. The other forms of contract are the Personal Medical Services or Alternative Provider Medical Services contracts. They are designed to encourage practices to offer services over and above the standard contract. Alternative Provider Medical Services contracts, unlike the other contracts, can be awarded to anyone, not just GPs, don't specify standard essential services, and are time limited. A new contract is issued each year.
SystmOne is a centrally hosted clinical computer system developed by Horsforth-based The Phoenix Partnership (TPP). It is used by healthcare professionals in the UK predominantly in primary care. The system is being deployed as one of the accredited systems in the government's programme of modernising IT in the NHS.
111 is a free-to-call single non-emergency number medical helpline operating in England, Scotland and parts of Wales. The 111 phone service has replaced the various non-geographic 0845 rate numbers and is part of each country's National Health Service: in England the service is known as NHS 111; in Scotland, NHS 24; and in Wales, 111.
Care UK is a provider of residential care for older people. They operate more than 150 homes offering residential care, dementia care, and nursing care. The company formerly also operated a wider range of healthcare services until 2019 when these were split off to Practice Plus Group, private-equity firm Bridgepoint Group retaining ultimate control over both companies.
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) were NHS organisations set up by the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to organise the delivery of NHS services in each of their local areas in England. On 1 July 2022 they were abolished and replaced by Integrated care systems as a result of the Health and Care Act 2022.
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS foundation trust which provides hospital and community health services in North Tyneside and hospital, community health and adult social care services in Northumberland.
East London NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS foundation trust which provides health services in East London and specialist services to a wider region.
Out-of-hours services are the arrangements to provide access to healthcare at times when General Practitioner surgeries are closed; in the United Kingdom this is normally between 6.30pm and 8am, at weekends, at Bank Holidays and sometimes if the practice is closed for educational sessions.
Healthcare in London, which consumes about a fifth of the NHS budget in England, is in many respects distinct from that in the rest of the United Kingdom, or England.
The Five Year Forward View was produced by NHS England in October 2014 under the leadership of Simon Stevens as a planning document.
EMIS Health, formerly known as Egton Medical Information Systems, supplies electronic patient record systems and software used in primary care, acute care and community pharmacy in the United Kingdom. The company is based in Leeds. It claims that more than half of GP practices across the UK use EMIS Health software and holds number one or two market positions in its main markets. In June 2022 the company was acquired by Bordeaux UK Holdings II Limited, an affiliate of UnitedHealth’s Optum business for a 49% premium on EMIS’s closing share price.
Healthcare in Kent has, from 1 July 2022, been mainly the responsibility of the Kent & Medway Integrated Care Board. Certain specialised services are directly commissioned by NHS England, coordinated through the South East integrated regional team. Some NHS England structures are aligned on a Kent and Medway basis, others on a South East basis and there is liaison with London to provide many tertiary healthcare services.
Healthcare in the West Midlands was, until July 2022, the responsibility of five clinical commissioning groups: Birmingham and Solihull, Sandwell and West Birmingham, Dudley, Wolverhampton, and Walsall.
Healthcare in Surrey was the responsibility of five Clinical Commissioning Groups: East Surrey, North West Surrey, Surrey Downs, Guildford and Waverley, and Surrey Heath from 2013 to 2020 when East Surrey, North West Surrey, Surrey Downs, Guildford and Waverley merged to form Surrey Heartlands CCG. The new organisation started with a £62 million deficit.
Healthcare in Suffolk was the responsibility of two clinical commissioning groups until July 2022: Ipswich and East Suffolk, and West Suffolk.
Camden Health Partners, known as Haverstock Healthcare until 2021 is a federation based in the London Borough of Camden, established in 2008. It was formed to allow local GPs to form an organisation large enough to compete with firms bidding for NHS contracts in the borough. This was with a view to keeping services accessible, local and safe for the local population. The original membership comprised all 35 GP practices in Camden.
GP Federations became popular among English general practitioners after 2010 as a means to exploit the opportunities—or mitigate the threats—posed by the Five Year Forward View proposals in the English NHS which envisaged delivering primary care at a larger scale than the traditional GP list. It is widely believed that ‘Practices cannot survive on their own – they have to look at ways of making themselves stronger.’ 15 sites were selected in December 2015 to test new enhanced primary care models serving populations of 30,000 to 50,000 patients. Some, but by no means all, clinical commissioning groups have given financial support to encourage the formation of federations.
Livi is a digital healthcare service by Kry International AB, a Swedish online healthcare company based in Stockholm. Kry International was established in 2015 and operates as Kry in Germany, Norway and Sweden. In France and the United Kingdom, it operates as Livi.
References
- ↑ "Suffolk out-of-hours firm Harmoni to run NHS 111 hotline". BBC News. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
- ↑ "Harmoni". ECI. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
- ↑ "Care UK buys largest GP out-of-hours provider". Pulse. 6 November 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
- ↑ "Camden GPs criticise Harmoni's 'unprofitable' out-of-hours service". Ham & High. 17 October 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
- ↑ "Hackney GPs oust Harmoni from out of hours contract". Hackney Gazette. 1 October 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2015.