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© 2026 Leadership in Practice
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The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for all leaders and managers in general practice and primary care. If you are in one of these roles, you’ll know how complicated and difficult it can be.
In each episode I’ll be discussing a business, management or leadership challenge, and I’ll provide ideas and tools to help you understand how you can be a better leader of your practice.
If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on
Apple Podcasts. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for more great ideas and advice to help you become a better leader of your practice.
36 Episodes
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In the first episode of 2026 I explore Practice KPIs with Edward Rigby. It’s an area I’ve always had a great interest as I believe they are quite possibly a managers most valuable information. Used correctly, KPIs improve decision making, keep you in control and reduce conflicts. Edward Rigby, a Managing Partner at Malpas Surgery a rural dispensing practice in southwest Cheshire, demonstrated he is an expert of this and shared plenty of insights and advice. Edward has over seven years in pr...
In this episode I chat with Sarah Rhodes, a three-time Practice Manager of the Year. Sarah has achieved something genuinely remarkable. She has not lost a single team member in more than five years. I was blown away hearing how she has done it, from listening and flexibility to creating a culture where people truly want to stay and grow. Her approach is authentic, inspiring and practical and full of ideas that any practice can learn from and put into action. Sarah is a Practice Business Ma...
In this episode, I explore what general practice can learn from other sectors. Like many practice managers, I came into the role from elsewhere—the veterinary and optometry world, in my case—and those experiences gave me skills and perspectives that proved invaluable. General practice can sometimes be insular and inward looking, believing it’s too different—or even superior—to other sectors. But there’s real value in looking outward. Many brilliant PMs rise through the ranks inter...
I was scrolling through LinkedIn one evening, when I came across a great question posed by Ed Kennedy. The question was ‘do practice managers impact patient outcomes?’ Well as an ex-practice manager I thought absolutely they did, but it was something that I didn’t consciously think about when I was back in practice. I thought this was a great question for an episode of the podcast, so Ed joined me for a really wide-ranging conversation that showed just how almost everything a practice manager...
I believe every practice should have a managing partner. That should be the most senior non-clinician, probably the Practice Manager. I believe it’s to the benefit of the practice, the partners, the staff and the patients. Yet only a small number of practices have a Practice Manager Partner. In this conversation we explore the role of the Managing Partner and I hope it will give food for thought for those thinking about becoming a Partner, or inviting their Practice Manager to join the partne...
This episode is a must listen for Practice Managers, PCN Managers, Finance Partners, and anyone else who might be looking after the money. It’s a really helpful episode, that’s worth sharing. Finance in primary care is complicated, and different to most other businesses. It can be a challenge even for the most experienced. Step Forward our guest for this episode, Katy Drew, a Chartered Accountant and ex Practice Manager who just gets it, and shares loads of easily understood and great advice....
Is your own personal growth really important to you, and have you got a passion for developing your team? I’d answer yes to both of those questions, but sometimes you hit a bump in the road that you’ll only get over with some additional expert help. Whether it’s for your own growth, or developing others, coaching should be in every leaders toolbox. Kristi Adams joins us to explain coaching and its many benefits, and shares a simple tool to help you when you’re coaching your own team. Kristi'...
Agreeing our values is important, for a practice as much as it is for us as individuals. Living our values is essential for primary care and is so connected to what we do in general practice and primary care networks. They are often identified and declared but rarely do we see evidence beyond this. That might be because it’s difficult to do, or it’s poorly understood, or it’s not known what to do once our values are identified. On the face of it, it’s a straightforward thing to do, but there’...
Resilience is now a must have skill for leaders and managers in primary care, such are the demands and pressures of the job, In this episode we talk to Farnaaz Sharief, join in and you’ll be listening to a real expert on resilience. We learn how to navigate and build resilience, she teaches us how to look after the resilience of our team, and what to do when our own resilience is flagging. At the end of Farnaaz’s brilliant, simple, and accessible advice, that is useful for everyone, we both ...
In this episode we dive into the crucial topic of ‘purpose’. It’s an area that is not always fully understood, or embraced, and we explore what we mean by purpose, what it means for a practice or PCN, and what makes it more than just words on a wall. The conversation looks at how central principles are powerful and helpful in guiding and uniting us in today’s challenging primary care environment. We consider: What do we mean by a purpose and how is it different to a mission or a v...
I suspect succession planning and talent management are unfamiliar activities for many in general practice and primary care. Maybe they’re not on your radar, or you’re not sure what they mean or whether they’re relevant to a practice or primary care network. But I’ve found they can often be happening to some degree but without much structure or in a way that maximises what can be achieved. The reality is that its absolutely something worth doing, whatever the size of your practice or PCN, and...
Primary Care Networks are now an important and established part of the primary care landscape but as Tara Humphrey points out in this episode, with multiple organisations coming together it takes a lot of time, thought, reflection and planning to try and build the relationships. We can be certain that Primary Care Networks, in one form or another, are here to stay, so I wanted explore the complex relationships between primary care networks and practices. There is possibly no one better to ha...
If you think you should only speak to your lawyer when something has gone wrong, you might want to think again. This episode with Edwina Farrell was a real eye opener. It left me in no doubt that your lawyer is there to prevent things going wrong, and to make it less costly if the worst does happen. Keep listening if you’re a Partner in practice, or a Practice Manager taking the lead on governance and legal matters, and you'll hear Edwina share a wealth of knowledge on: Partnershi...
The relationship between the Practice Manager and the Partners is the most important one in the practice. So much is impacted by this relationship and when it’s positive it benefits everything and everyone, but a negative one can be extremely damaging. It’s a complicated relationship, where the expected hierarchy and the usual dynamics of the employer and employee often don’t work. In this episode I am joined by Ben Allen a GP Partner and a Sam Fellowes a Practice Manager to explore the worki...
General practice, PCNs and federations are businesses in every sense of the word but it’s not always easy to get everyone involved to acknowledge this. Its sometimes even harder for all concerned to adopt that approach to the management and ownership of these organisations. I wanted to explore what it means to ‘manage a business in primary care’ and invited George Gavriel, a GP with all the right skills and experience to help me. He shares his thoughts on: Why it’s important to manage your pr...
This episode is as much for GP Partners as it is for Practice Managers. It will help you if you’re setting the expectations or expectations have been made of you. What’s expected of a Practice Manager can vary greatly, and they’re often unrealistic and damaging. When that happens it’s usually to the detriment of the practice and Practice Manager, but get it right and it can deliver a successful practice and Practice Manager. In this episode Peter Maynard joins me to discuss ‘What’s expe...
The interviewer you are listening to in this podcast is ‘Niamh’, an AI voice powered by PlayHT, https://play.ht/. I wanted to do a solo episode to share more about my career, interests and Leadership in Practice, but I don’t find recording solo enjoyable or easy, so instead I thought I would try something different. It was certainly easier and loads more fun, and I love how it’s turned out. Enjoy! The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers, Partn...
The role of a Practice Manager has changed greatly since I joined general practice in 2008. The responsibilities are varied, extensive and significant, and in any other sector they would be in the job description of a Managing Director or Operations Director. The Practice Manager is running the business in every sense, and to succeed in such a fast paced, complex and demanding environment a broad range of skills is needed, and increasingly the support of a strong, dedicated and speciali...
Most Practice Managers will have experienced conflict in the practice partnership. That might be constant and never ending niggles and discontent, to full-blown infighting and hostility. It may be between partners or even between the Practice Manager and one or more partners. Whether the Practice Manager is part of the conflict or not they are almost certainly at the centre, and trying to manage relationships, keep the peace and the practice functioning. I wanted to find out...
If, like me, you've never really embraced, understood, or been a fan of QI or quality improvement, this podcast might make you think again. QI is firmly established in primary care. We see it in QOF, CQC and programmes like GPIP, but I wanted to know more about what it is and how to use it as a tool or programme to improve your practice or primary care network. Primary care as a community is always keen to improve and there's never been a greater need than now. In this episode, yo...
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