2 March 2021

Dear colleagues,

Thank you for your continued work and dedication, juggling many demands and priorities while providing high quality care and support for your patients.

If you are finding things difficult at the moment please consider our free and confidential coaching offer #LookingAfterYouToo, available for all primary care staff. It’s benefitted many of your colleagues with over 7,000 sessions completed to date, and our experienced coaches are on hand seven days a week to help support and maintain your psychological wellbeing.

UK charities join together to boost vaccine drive

Sixteen frontline charities have formed a new partnership to encourage those with long-term health conditions and their carers to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Organisations including The British Heart Foundation, Macmillan Cancer Support and Mencap are joining with the government and NHS to promote vaccine uptake among those the charities support every day. Working with the government on the UK’s largest ever medical deployment, the charities will use the combined strength of their networks to reassure people with long-term health conditions about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine.

Kiren and Ali

COVID-19 updates and guidance

COVID-19 vaccination deployment next steps and plans for weeks of 8 and 15 March

We have written to ICS and STP leads to thank them and their teams for their ongoing efforts on COVID-19 vaccination and to set out the next steps for vaccine deployment. To support the continued work, this letter sets out the key priorities and actions for immediate review. These include ensuring maximum penetration and uptake within the JCVI cohorts, second dose planning and delivery and preparations for vaccination in line with increased supply.

Improving social care staff vaccination rates and completion of outstanding first dose vaccinations in older adult care

This letter, published today, asks care providers to work with local partners to ensure social care staff vaccination rates increase further.

COVID-19 Local Vaccination Services waste management

It is vitally important that vaccination sites segregate all waste into the proper waste stream. Doing so reduces pressures on the waste services infrastructure, reduces the impact on the environment, significantly reduces costs, and ensures compliance with relevant waste regulations. All waste should be disposed of into the allocated consumables and stored securely on site or transferred to another site as required (e.g. roving vaccinators) following each vaccination session. The principles of the COVID-19 waste management SOP should be followed.

COVID-19 vaccination clinic for patients with learning disabilities and/or autism

A dedicated clinic has facilitated the immunisation of nearly 70 patients with learning disabilities and/or autism, and 42 carers in just one day. Primary Care Wirral has supported Healthier South Wirral PCN (HSW) via specialist staff and by providing a mobile clinical unit for patients who preferred to have their vaccinations outdoors. An associated case study is available to read.

COVID-19 Vaccination Programme – workspace

General practice

Health Secretary’s message to GPs on pandemic effort

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock MP, has expressed his thanks to all those in general practice who have continued to deliver dedicated care throughout the pandemic. In his message, originally published via the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), Secretary of State thanks those involved in the vaccination programme, as well as the hundreds of returners who have re-joined the workforce over the past year. Secretary of State also sets out details of how the government’s recently published proposals for a Health and Social Care Bill will deliver more preventative approaches to population health and more seamless, effective care for patients.

Putting patients in control of their outpatient appointments

The NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS) provides an easy way for patients to directly manage their first hospital or clinic appointment with a specialist, enabling appointments to be easily booked, checked, changed or cancelled online. GPs and practice staff can now email referral booking information securely to patients who have an NHS login and patients can also manage their referral in the NHS App - removing the need to print and post booking instructions.

Please review your e-RS processes to take advantage of this functionality and view this short video explaining the benefits.

Physician Associates added to the New to Partnership Payment Scheme

From yesterday (1 March 2021) Physician Associates are included in the list of health care professionals eligible to apply to the New to Partnership Payment scheme. The scheme offers up to £3,000 as a training fund to support healthcare professionals to make the transition into a partnership role, coupled with a financial payment of up to £20,000.

Applying to the scheme is now undertaken via an online portal, which also allows you to upload the supporting documents required as part of your application. More information and the full list of eligibility criteria is available on the FutureNHS GP Career Support Hub.

GP websites and online presence

As an increasing range of care is being delivered by practices working together in networks, including the COVID-19 vaccination programme, it is useful to patients to know which network their practice is part of. We advise GP practices to include information on their websites and other patient-facing communications about which primary care network (PCN) they are part of and the details of the practices that make up the PCN. Guidance to help you make the most of your website will be published shortly.

General practice – latest updates

Dentistry

Exclusion of wrong tooth removal from Never Events list

Following a review of the ‘wrong tooth removal’ type of Never Event, it has been concluded it should be specifically excluded from the ‘Wrong site surgery’ category of the Never Events list. Any wrong tooth removal after 1 April 2021 will not be required to be reported as a Never Event. Wrong tooth extraction incidents must be reported as a patient safety incident and managed according to local risk management policies.

Further details can be found on the Never Events policy and framework web page.

Optometry

Efficient, high-flow diagnostic and treatment services for eye care - guidance now available

New guidance is available on our FutureNHS workspace describing recent developments in high flow diagnostic and treatment eye services with a focus on delivery of outpatient care. It provides guidance for systems to incorporate high flow services and consider delivery in hubs as part of their plans for restoring and maintaining safe eye care services. Case studies from Moorfield Eye Hospital and University Hospitals Bristol and West (UHBW) NHS Foundation Trust are also available.

Primary care

Expanding the primary care workforce

Recruiting to the primary care workforce continues to be a key priority. We have recently updated our website with information on all the Additional Role Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) roles and encourage all PCNs to use this and the resources on FutureNHS for guidance and support in recruiting to these roles.

This week is also National Careers Week which provides an opportunity to shine a light on the amazing careers available within primary care and encourage those who may be considering a career in primary care to learn more. We will be using the week to highlight stories from colleagues working in some of the new roles in primary care across our social media channels and would encourage staff to get involved using #NCW2020 and share why they decided to work in primary care.

Improving the National Workforce Reporting System

NHS Digital plan to improve the National Workforce Reporting System (NWRS) in the coming months. The new system will be easier to use and has been designed with direct feedback from users. To find out more, read the letter that NHS Digital sent to practice and PCN users, or join a webinar in March and April.

We want PCNs and practices to help test the new system and identify further improvements. To get involved please complete this short survey to share your experiences of using the system or contact katherine.tyte@nhs.net to contribute to the user feedback exercise. NHS Digital are especially keen to hear from users that find it difficult to keep their NWRS records updated.

New video group clinics e-learning programme available 

Health Education England e-Learning for Healthcare (HEE e-LfH) in partnership with NHS England and NHS Improvement, ELC Works and Redmoor Health are delighted to launch their new Video Group Clinics (VGC) e-learning modules.

The e-learning resources support GPs, practice nurses and other health and care professionals with the introduction of video group clinics. They provide learners with an overview and working knowledge of video group clinics, including the delivery principles and protocols. Additional resources including a toolkit are available here. 

New Health Anchors Learning Network launched

In partnership with The Health Foundation we have launched a new Health Anchors Learning Network (HALN). Anchor institutions are large public sector organisations that have significant assets, spending power or influence and can consciously work in partnership to benefit local communities. The network will help NHS organisations to maximise their ‘anchor’ role to improve the wellbeing of the populations they serve in its role as an employer, purchaser and property owner.

You can join the network by signing up to the HALN newsletter and register to attend the free launch event on 25 March at www.haln.org.uk.

New CVD prevention proactive care frameworks now available

Primary care has changed substantially as a result of COVID-19. The UCLPartners’ Proactive Care Frameworks support practices and primary care networks to work differently to deliver comprehensive care to patients with long-term conditions.

Last year, UCLPartners created frameworks for high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, asthma and COPD. Two new frameworks have now been added - atrial fibrillation and high cholesterol. The frameworks enable practices to risk stratify patients to prioritise clinical activity, deploy the wider workforce to reduce the workload for GPs, and maximise support for remote management and self-management. View the frameworks here and read the recent HSJ blog on the frameworks.

Supporting people at the end of life to access benefit payments – new online form

The DS1500 form confirms a diagnosis and treatment plan to allow people at the end of their lives to receive benefits quicker. People may also get benefits at a higher rate or get extra money. The DS1500 form is now available to complete online.

The online service is significantly quicker and ensures the patient receives their benefits swiftly. Sign-in to the NHS Spine portal using your Smartcard to access the form and download a copy for your patients’ records. If you don’t have access to the Spine portal, we are currently working on a way for you to access this digital DS1500 too. If you experience issues accessing the DS1500 link, ask your NHS Trust to add it as a ‘Trusted site’. For more information, contact the DS1500 team on dwp.digitalds1500@dwp.gov.uk.

Dates for your diary

Wednesday 3 March, 1pm – 2pm. The IGPM progress update: Recognition, representation and membership

Wednesday 3 March, 1pm – 3pm. Wellbeing and the Primary Care Workforce: a collaborative event

Wednesday 3 March, 2.30pm – 5.45pm. Action for Change: Health inequalities: leading for equality

Friday 5 March, 12pm – 1.15pm. The opportunities for systems to improve patient outcomes using digital and data

Monday 8 March, 7.30am – 4pm. International Women's Day 2021 Celebration with Prerana Issar, NHS Chief People Officer and Samantha Allen, Chair of the NHS Confederation's Health & Care Women Leaders Network

Tuesday 16 March, 9am – 5pm. NHS and the armed forces conference

Wednesday 17 March, 3.30pm – 5pm. Inclusion Health Self- Assessment tool live demonstration

Thursday 18 March, 1.00 – 2.00pm. Learning from Co-production – using better engagement to address health inequalities

Wednesday 24 March, 10am - 11am. Connecting with our local community to deliver the COVID vaccine programme

Thursday 25 March, 10.30 am – 11.30 am. Building and developing trusted connections with communities

Link of the day

What to do if you’re a young person with an eating problem