Top Tips to Improve Your Primary Care Network Weekly Leadership & Management Meetings

This week my team and I have created this crib sheet to support those:

• Who are brand new in post and unsure of what to discuss in their leadership and management meetings
  

• Who do not have leadership and management weekly meetings
  

• Who are feeling that their leadership and management meetings are largely unproductive
  

• Who are uncertain of where to prioritise their focus for the week

These meetings are really important, and this guide will help you to improve your meetings, and productivity, moving forwards.

Let's jump in!

WHY A WEEKLY LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT MEETING IS IMPORTANT FOR YOUR PCN

The purpose of this meeting is to ensure that everyone on the team:

• Stays in regular communication, which is vital for a highly effective team

• Remains on the same page

• Can make and sign up to a plan to address any urgent and important tasks

• Is aware of the priorities for the week, month or quarter

• Is aware of each other’s workload and of what's happening outside of the PCN, which may impact on their engagement with you and the network

These meetings can also;

• Provide an opportunity to follow up with your Clinical Director if you are waiting on them for information

• Facilitate a sense of teamwork and camaraderie

• Provide clarity

When should these meetings take place?

It really doesn’t matter. Pick a day and time and stick to it.

Create a reoccurring meeting invitation and make it non-negotiable.

The meetings can take place either face-to-face or online. Make it easy for people to attend.

The meeting will typically last 30 – 60 minutes, but I encourage meetings to be scheduled for 60 minutes as there is usually quite a lot to discuss.

A 30-minute meeting may leave you feeling rushed, but do whatever works best for you.

Who should be in your meetings?

At the very least:

The PCN Manager

The Clinical Director

In one of the THC supported PCNs, we call this meeting the Core Delivery Group, and we meet on Fridays. Those involved are:

• The Clinical Director

• The PCN Manager

• Deputy PCN Management

• The PCN Coordinator

• The Lead Practice Manager

• A GP Clinical Lead

🎯 Who do you think needs to be in your meetings?

What should you discuss in your weekly meeting?

To get you started, I propose you chair this (as the PCN Manager) and:

1. Ask everyone to share one highlight from the last week (work or non-work-related). It’s always good to start the meeting off positively and this works really well as an ice-breaker. It also provides you with an opportunity to get to know your colleagues better (and have a better understanding of what’s important to them).

2. Highlight any urgent or important emails which require your colleagues' input before you can respond.

3. Raise awareness of any outstanding, key actions.

4. Discuss the upcoming priorities and what's most important for the week ahead. These could involve any, or all, of the following:

• Finances

• Supporting a new starter

• Completing a report or submission

• Dealing with a complaint

• Preparing for a board meeting

• Compiling a newsletter and / or sharing progress within your network

• Important diary commitments

• Issues relating to particular areas of the DES contracts

Be clear to identify:

What is the priority? Why is it a priority? What are the actionable next steps?

What support do you or others need?

How to capture your meeting actions

I suggest you create a simple actions log within an Excel document to keep track of the actions. Ensure that you document any important decisions that were made for your own records, and as part of the PCN governance process.

To download a printable version of this checklist - please click here.

I hope this helps!

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About The Author

I'm Tara; I am the founder of THC Primary Care, an award-winning healthcare consultancy specialising in Primary Care Network Management and the host of the Business of Healthcare Podcast, where we have now published over 200 episodes.

I have over 20 years of project management and business development experience across the private and public sectors, and I have supported over 50 PCNs by providing interim management, training and consultancy.

I have managed teams across multiple sites and countries; I have an MBA in Leadership and Management in Healthcare, I'm published in the London Journal of Primary Care, and I am the author of over 250 blogs.

I have 3 children. My eldest has Asthma, my middle child has a kidney condition called Nephrotic Syndrome, and my youngest daughter has Type 1 Diabetes, so outside of work, healthcare plays a huge role in my life.