Elderly people are the fastest growing demographic in the UK. But are care levels rising to meet their needs? Sara Williams meets a surgery in Northampton who have improved their continuity of care, and changed the face of practice

Jonathan Haslam looks at the difficulties created for general practice by the increasing numbers of non-English speakers in the UK.

Document telephone consultations contemporaneously. Obtain and document a thorough history. Telephone consultations do not give a GP the opportunity to assess clinical signs.

Julie Price, Clinical Risk Programme Manager, investigates whether practices are handling controlled drugs safely

One of the biggest risks in treating elderly patients in nursing homes is communication. Dr Rachel Birch, a sessional GP and MPS medicolegal adviser, reviews a case where communication failure led to patient harm. she then answers typical medicolegal queries around community care

Dr Richard Stacey provides a step-by-step approach to dealing with patients who do not comply

Try these sample AKT questions provided by Dr Mahibur Rahman from Emedica

In this issue we bring you two interesting cases; the first encourages GPs to exercise caution when diagnosing haematuria, and the second highlights how various poor communication channels can have a negative impact on patient care.

In her last column, our columnist Laura Davison, talks about her experiences of being a new GP.

This workshop will help you to gain a greater understanding of the patient safety culture that exists in your practice, allowing you to identify and target areas for improvement.

Dr Pallavi Bradshaw, MPS medicolegal adviser, gives junior doctors guidance on the best way to prepare for a night shift. She explains what they need before, during and after to ensure the shift runs smoothly.

Your repeat prescribing journey

Repeat prescribing is a complex journey that accounts for 75% of prescriptions issued in general practice. With more than 20 steps from the initial decision to prescribe to the patient finally taking the medication, the opportunity for error is great. Therefore, it is no wonder that errors in repeat prescribing frequently occur.

Try these sample AKT questions provided by Dr Mahibur Rahman from Emedica

Mrs H was a 35-year-old teaching assistant who also had two school-aged children. She was obese with a BMI of 40. In 2006, she had seen Dr G with left knee pain. Dr G recorded that on examination her knee was tender over her medial joint line but was otherwise stable. He initially prescribed diclofenac and advised her to lose weight.

Doctors face a number of challenges when prescribing: Sara Dawson explores some risk strategies and looks at a classic case of a drug name mix-up