Podcast – Sarah Coope – Managing Conflict in General Practice: A Practical Framework for Leaders

About this episode

Ben Gowland interviews Dr Sarah Coope about managing conflict in general practice and its implications for leaders.

In this week’s episode, Ben is joined by Dr Sarah Coope, former GP, mediator and CEO of Wild Monday, to explore one of the most challenging aspects of working in general practice – conflict. Sarah shares why conflict is both inevitable and, when handled well, a positive force within teams, particularly in high-pressure environments like general practice and PCNs. The conversation explores why unresolved conflict is so common, how workload and system complexity contribute, and why avoiding difficult conversations can often make things worse. The episode also highlights the emotional toll of conflict, the importance of psychological and emotional safety, and why one-to-one conversations are often more effective than large group discussions. Finally, Sarah discusses the support available for leaders, including coaching, peer networks and structured development programmes. Introduction (0:07) Why conflict is common in general practice (1:15) The impact of pressure, workload and system complexity (2:27) Avoiding conflict and why it can be harmful (4:02) The emotional toll of conflict (5:14) Handling personal conflict and strong emotions (8:50) Expressing how situations…

People in this episode

Host: Ben Gowland

Guest: Dr Sarah Coope

Topics covered

• conflict management
• general practice
• leadership
• team dynamics
• emotional safety

Keywords

• conflict
• general practice
• leadership
• psychological safety
• HiFIVE model

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Wild Monday

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