Universal general practice improvement support

Our next webinars and training offers are as below. These are available to all practices and primary care networks (PCNs) in England. Key resources are available here:

Demand and capacity webinar sessions for general practices and PCNs

The demand and capacity webinar series has been designed to help participants gain a deeper and practical understanding of what demand and capacity are and consequent issues that occur. The sessions consider how general practices can use this information to better manage services and how it can aid practices and PCNs in designing more robust needs-based services. There are four webinars in each series. Each webinar is 90 minutes and is held online using MS Teams.

Webinar one – demand, capacity and variation

An introduction to Demand, Capacity and Variation including the theory behind them, why they are important and their practical application in a primary care setting. Learning about demand and capacity is one of the ways we can gain knowledge about what is happening in our system, and specifically about how well patients are accessing the care or support they need.

Webinar two – managing demand and capacity

Building on webinar one, this session considers the application of theory using real Demand and Capacity data. This is an interactive discussion to understand data and generate ideas. You should attend webinar one first.

Webinar three – failure demand

An opportunity to explore in more detail the issue of failure demand, first introduced as a concept in webinar one. A contentious term, failure demand is not the failure of individuals, but rather failures within our systems and processes which lead to duplication. This duplication ties up capacity and results in poor experience for the patient. In this webinar we look at practice examples, how to find and reduce them. Before attending this session, participants should attend webinars one and two, to be familiar with the theory of Demand, Capacity and Variation and how to collect and review data at practice level.

Webinar four – need-led design

An opportunity to look at Demand and Capacity from a systems perspective. We will consider the definitions of ‘need’ within the primary care setting and what it means in relation to ‘demand’. We will then consider how we can use this information to look at need-based design of services. Before attending this session, participants should have attended webinars one and two. 

Digital and Transformation Leads Development Programme

Applications are now open for this twelve-month development programme specifically designed to equip individuals in the Digital and Transformation Lead ARRS role with the core skills to be able to lead transformational change.  From a deeper understanding of primary care level data, stakeholder engagement, improvement science and facilitation skills, delegates will have a range of materials to draw on to help make effective, continuous and sustainable improvements.

The programme comprises a five-day core programme, action learning, personal project work and individual coaching.  For further information, please email england.capabilityt4c@nhs.net.

Applications for the next cohort close on 7 June 2023. 

Fundamentals of Change and Improvement Programme

An accredited short, practical programme held over two or three sessions, providing an in-depth introduction to Quality Improvement for those working in general practices and PCNs. Participants bring a specific problem or issue to work on.

Cohort 14 (virtual): Tuesdays, 27 June and 11 July 2023 – please apply here.