Practice Manager. Meet the Primary Care Workforce: Kevin Root.

Meet Kevin, a Practice Manager at Guildhall Street Surgery in Folkstone, Kent. He joined Primary Care from the corporate sector in July 2020 and enjoys the varied nature of the role.

Transcript:
I am Kevin Root, Practice Manager for Guildhall Street Surgery in Folkestone, Kent.
What is your career journey?
I am fairly new to Primary Care as I joined the surgery in July 2020. Prior to that, I had never worked in Primary Care or in the care sector at all, always in the corporate sector.
What motivated you to work in Primary Care?
I joined Primary Care during the Covid-19 pandemic as I was bored! My previous careers had ended some years earlier and I had been doing some consultancy work. A few years ago I had thought of a similar role, however it didn't happen at the time. So I started looking around for something and this role was available. I applied without any expectation at all, met the partners and talked about their goals with the practice and they offered me the job. The role started as part-time, but didn't last like that for very long at all!
Define your role and the different aspects of it?
The Practice Manager role at any surgery is a really varied role. It is quite unusual for a single position to have so many aspects to it. You have the day-to-day organisational role, but then you have finance, HR, keeping people well organised and trying to provide the best service to the patients. It's a very eclectic role and people coming into the role will find that no matter how experienced they are, there will be things that they have never done before, which is quite a nice thing to be honest.
What does your role in general practice entail?
It could be anything! From simply be coming in on a Monday morning and making sure the finances are up to date, to dealing with a whole plethora of HR issues that may arise, or working with the doctors, arranging sessions, getting the maximum number of appointments... Or it could be issues with the facilities, a problem with the electrics or the computers have failed, the list of tasks is endless. No two days are the same.
Do you work in a team?
We have a very good team here. I don't have an assistant manager at the moment, but that is something that will come in time. But we have a number of very clear teams: Administrative, Reception, Clinical, Doctors and Nurses etc. and we all work very closely together. It all comes together to provide the best service for the patient.
Are you well supported in your role?
Yes. PCNs were very new to me however I think our PCN works very well, it includes 8 other surgeries in Folkestone and Dover and I have learned a lot from that group. I came into Primary Care at a time when there were no face-to-face meetings and limited training, the people I work with in the PCN have been vital to my learning. Now that we are coming out of Covid it is equally vital in the way we are all working as surgeries to deal with the challenges in the years coming.
It also means the support is there, realistically I know that if I have a problem I can pick up the phone and ask for support; it is also nice that over time they have started calling me for similar things as well. In terms of wider support, the ICB have helped and the Training Hub in particular, I work with them a lot. I can't say I have ever felt, despite my inexperience, that I had nowhere to go to get assistance.
What are the highlights and challenges of your role?
One of the main challenges is that demand is outstripping capacity, it is a long term problem and will be into the future until issues are resolved. The highlight is the team, I work very closely with them and they are what make the place tick. So working with them and trying to put in processes that will work efficiently, which we have done very well, and having good morale. Things have been tough, there is pressure and there has been Covid but generally the morale is good. We do not have a high turnover of staff which is very good.
How do you see the Practice Manager role evolving?
I think that over time, Primary Care will move further away from small surgeries like Guildhall, to hubs and as you move to hubs the roles will change. I think the hubs will become too big for the Practice Manager role to be as eclectic as I said the role is at the moment and it will become more specialised. For example: Business Managers and Practice Managers. This will take time, but I do see that in the future.
Do you have any future career plans?
I don't really. What I am trying to do here is develop it so the next generation can take on the role and so we have succession in place.

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