Leadership in Practice

Managing Conflicts in General Practice

Gary Hughes Season 2 Episode 3

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 more about this and what the Practice Manager can do to avoid conflicts occurring and what they can do when it all goes wrong.

In this episode I am joined by Dr Clare Sieber and we discuss:

  • What forms do conflicts in a general practice partnership normally take, and what can we do to prevent them happening. 
  • If a conflict exists in your practice, what can the Practice Manager or Partner do to (a) manage the relationships, (b) make sure the ‘working practice’ isn’t disrupted and (c) try and resolve the conflict.
  • What are the important things you should do and the things you should never do if you are having to manage a conflict. 
  • Takeaways – we each give you one thing to take away and try if you are having to manage a conflict.

 Dr Clare Sieber is a practising GP in West Sussex , and also a mediator, co-CEO of The Well-led Practice, and a dabbler in medico-politics and the Deputy Chair of England LMC Conference.

As the co-founder and co-CEO of The Well-Led Practice, she helps practices and PCNs to assess and enhance their leadership and team dynamics, using data and evidence-based guidance, whilst evidencing CQC 'well-led'. https://www.well-ledprovider.com/gp

She also runs General Practice Mediation, which provides mediation services to GP partnerships, practices, PCNs and federations. She has successfully mediated many cases, saving time, money, and relationships for her clients. 

The Leadership in Practice podcast, hosted by Gary Hughes, is for Practice Managers, Partners and all Leaders in general practice and primary care. If you liked this podcast you can find even more ideas and tools to help you improve your Leadership in my book Leadership in Practice and my blogs, both of which you can find at www.leadershipinpractice.co.uk.

If you need help with a leadership challenge, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you and you can contact me at gary@leadershipinpractice.co.uk, or on Linkedin.

If you want to be a regular listener to the show the easiest way is to subscribe on our website or at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite Podcast platform.