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Primary Care Bulletin - this week's round-up
10 September 2020
Dear colleagues,
As we continue to navigate the current phase of the pandemic, balancing Covid-19 with the rest of the care we deliver, we want to ensure this bulletin continues to be a valuable resource for you. Going forward the bulletin will continue to support and alert you to the latest news and updates on Covid-19, however, from this edition onward we will also include information and updates that are relevant for primary care colleagues on wider issues affecting care delivery.
Risk assessments
We recognise the ongoing efforts across primary care to offer and complete risk assessments for staff, ensuring particularly BAME and other ‘at risk’ groups are kept safe. Where assessments have not yet been completed, we strongly encourage these reviews to be conducted rapidly. Where necessary, please do speak to commissioners where support is needed, or to discuss available steps to mitigate risks.
Community pharmacy staff flu vaccination
To help protect community pharmacy teams from seasonal flu and ongoing Covid-19 risks, NHS England and NHS Improvement is asking employers to ensure that all their staff, including locums, are vaccinated as soon as possible. The national flu immunisation programme letter of 5 August 2020 outlined how people eligible for free flu vaccination will be offered this through local NHS arrangements.
Community pharmacy employers are asked to encourage and enable staff who are eligible for a free flu jab to take this up, and to make sure all other members of their teams are also vaccinated. This will meet their responsibility to protect their staff and patients and support the resilience of the health and care system. It is particularly important to ensure that staff in vulnerable groups, such as Black and Ethnic Minority employees, are adequately protected this winter.
The public marketing campaign to support the flu vaccination programme is due to commence in October. Vaccinations will be offered to those aged 50-64 in November and December.
The annual service specification and supporting patient group direction for the Community Pharmacy Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Service was published on 28 August 2020. Further updates will be shared in due course.
Nikki and Ed
Dr Nikki Kanani
GP and Medical Director for Primary Care,
NHS England and NHS Improvement
Ed Waller
Director for Primary Care Strategy and NHS Contracts, NHS England and NHS Improvement
General practice
Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) updated
We have updated the QOF 2020/21. This is effective immediately and the Statement of Financial Entitlement will be amended shortly to reflect this. As outlined in our letter of 4 September, the Dispensary Services Quality Scheme (DSQS) which was reinstated on 1 August has also been updated.
COVID-19 antibody test results flowing to GP records
Results from COVID-19 antibody tests are now flowing into GP records. From 10 September, when a person undertakes an antibody test that is taken through the public antibody portal (an industry ELISA test), the result will now be loaded directly into their patient records. This will be in addition to flowing of test results for pillar 2 viral testing and will follow the same process, according to each practice’s GP IT system provider of choice.
Results will be presented on patients’ records as ‘positive’, ‘negative’ or ‘unknown’. As for viral testing, there will be no action required from the GP practice on receipt of the test results. Bulk upload of test results into GP records will take place without any manual patient by patient process. GP practices will shortly receive further guidance by their own system supplier about how this will work in their own system of choice, as well as details on how results will be filed in the system.
Know your numbers week - the UK's biggest blood pressure testing and awareness event
High blood pressure is the number one risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) worldwide. Those who wait longer than 6 weeks with raised blood pressure have increasing risk of MI or stroke and this is worst for those with the highest pressures.
This week is ‘Know your numbers week’ and Blood Pressure UK is recommending patients check their own blood pressure. GPs and practice nurses can use this information to help manage their patients. Please consider using your practice websites and text-based systems to encourage people with hypertension to self-monitor and send in their readings. Especially consider reaching out to those you believe to be most as risk of cardiovascular event and ensuring that you have an up to date reading and treatment plan.
Community pharmacy
NICE quality standards for community pharmacy
New National Institute for Health and Care Excellence quality standards for community pharmacies were issued on 28 August 2020, setting out how they can support the health of the local population, what high quality care looks like and priority areas for the improvement of services. These include:
- offering advice and education to people with a long-term health condition or those looking for support to improve their health and wellbeing
- raising awareness of the health and wellbeing expertise and services available from community pharmacy teams
- developing and using local referral pathways and information-sharing practices
- using their skills and knowledge to support people from underserved groups.
Quality standards are intended to help providers to improve the quality of care they provide to patients and are more important than even during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for those risk factors that make patients more vulnerable to COVID-19.
The standards are also important, as achieving Healthy Living Pharmacy Level 1 status will become an essential service requirement for all community pharmacies later this financial year.
GPhC registration assessment to move online
The General Pharmaceutical Council has updated details on its website for provisionally registered pharmacists due to take the registration assessment. It is currently carrying out a procurement exercise to identify a provider to deliver an online registration assessment in late 2020 to early 2021 and will share the date and details on the new format as soon as possible. Trainees and provisional registrants will be given a minimum of two months’ notice of the date for the online assessment in order to prepare.
Primary care
Social media assets available to promote access to primary care
Social media resources advising patients about how GP, dental and community pharmacy services are operating are now available to download from the Campaign Resource Centre.
FutureNHS: primary care workspaces
FutureNHS is an online collaboration platform. There are a range of primary care workspaces you can sign up to for free to help you in your role, featuring key documents, information and discussions on a range of topics and areas:
The Data and Analytics Support for COVID-19 FutureNHS workspace
This workspace has been created to bring together data and analytical resources that already exist within the public domain (unless otherwise stated) and to provide a starting point for data and analytical assets to be curated. Established in March 2020, it now has over 8,000 members. The workspace is open to anyone with an interest in data. Please click the link to register.
Innovation in Complex Care – funding programme announced
The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) is delighted to announce a new nurse-led innovation programme for 2021, specifically focusing on people with complex needs in primary care.
Up to 10 community nurse-led projects across England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands and Isle of Man will be selected by the QNI to receive funding. Project leaders will also receive a year-long programme of professional development to support them in delivering their project. They are actively looking to fund projects that are led by nurses from a BAME background.
The closing date for applications is 5pm on 30 October 2020.
How to communicate better with people with hearing loss
COVID-19 poses a unique challenge for health and social care professionals when talking to someone with hearing loss. Here are some important tips to help you communicate effectively.
Dates for your diary
Thursday 17 September, 5pm - 6:30pm. A focus on primary care networks. This webinar is the first in a series focusing on PCNs and the opportunities and challenges they face in the coming months and years. Join Nikki Kanani, Ed Waller and special guest speaker Dr Sonali Kinra to support PCNs on their development journey. To attend please ensure you register in advance – the deadline to register is 12pm on 17 September.
NHS Volunteer Responder programme updates
Webinars are being held to provide regular updates on the NHS Volunteer Responder programme. Join one of the upcoming webinars on Microsoft Teams:
Tuesday 22 September, 10am - 11am. The primary care hot hub - the West London experience. During the COVID-19 outbreak, some NHS organisations used technology to support people with COVID-19 at home. Join this webinar to hear from the clinicians involved about how this worked, what they did and what the benefits were. Please contact InnovationCollaborative@future.nhs.uk for more information.
Thursday 24 September, 12:30pm - 1:30pm. Delivering the early diagnosis of cancer PCN specification: getting started and learning from others. The NHS Confederation’s PCN Network has teamed up with Cancer Research UK on a webinar designed for PCN clinical directors and their staff.
In case you missed it
New roles in the PCNs - how to make the most of the new services webinar
What does the next phase of the PCN evolution look like? In this webinar, recorded on 8 September, the Practice Managers Association explores the scope and breath of the new roles in PCNs with a discussion around the challenges and opportunities.
Pharmacy’s role in PCN multidisciplinary teams supporting care homes webinar
NHS Confederation’s latest briefing explores how pharmacy professionals are supporting care homes. Catch up on the related webinar, chaired by PCN Network co-chair Dr Farzana Hussain, on 27 August.
Nikki and Ed's link of the week
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