COVID-19 Primary Care bulletin

6 April 2020

COVID-19: today's round-up for primary care

Dear primary care colleagues,

We know that there is a lot of information in this bulletin, and we are grateful for your continued commitment at this time.

We hope you find this a helpful way to get up to date information daily.

Nikki and Gabi

General practice

Revised Standard Operating Procedure for general practice

Revised guidance and standard operating procedures (SOP) published on 6 April 2020 to work in the context of COVID-19 have been published. This updates the previous SOP published on 19 March.

Please note that two key links have been updated since the document was cascaded to the system on 5 April 2020.

• For guidance on death certification published on 31 March 2020​
• NICE guidance on hospital admission and management in the community for patients with symptoms of COVID-19

We also wanted to clarify the situation for face to face assessment for shielded patients. If possible, a dedicated home visiting team for shielded patients should be set up, with staff who are not seeing patients with symptoms of COVID-19. Where this is not possible, shielded patients should be seen either in designated sites or by routine home visits, depending on the local model. Infection prevention and control guidance, including appropriate use of PPE should be followed at all times.

We apologise for any confusion these updates may cause. All changes made between version 2 and version 2.1 have been highlighted for ease of reference.

Supporting NHS 111

We know many of you are working at full capacity already. However, we urgently need GPs to support the NHS 111 Clinical Assessment Service (CCAS). If you’re able to offer your time and expertise beyond your local setting please sign up here covid19-cas.nhs.uk/gp-practice-crs.

Community pharmacy

A letter has been published and sent to community pharmacies with information about supporting people to access medicines who have been released from prisons and other prescribed places of detention for adults and children.

Additional information

Clinical negligence indemnity

On Friday 3 April a joint letter from the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS Resolution and NHS England and NHS Improvement was issued on clinical negligence indemnity in response to COVID-19. It aims to reassure healthcare professionals and others working in the NHS in England about the position in relation to indemnity for clinical negligence incidents. Please take a moment to read the letter and guidance on the NHS Resolution website

Dates for your diary

Tuesday 7 April 12:30pm – 1pm

Webinar: COVID-19 Helping practice staff make the most of digital services

This webinar is to help you make the most out of your digital services during the COVID-19 pandemic to protect your staff and patients. 

Wednesday 8 April 3pm – 4pm 

Webinar: Group video consultations and video consultations in care homes

Video consultation has huge potential for supporting group consultations, virtual pods to support patient-led/clinician-guided observations and also virtual ward rounds in care homes and other residential settings. Join us for this webinar to hear about experience of using video consultation with patient groups in Lancashire and how they can help patients support one another and also create efficiencies for staff. We will also cover how to establish virtual ward rounds in care homes, virtual pods and what to consider when doing video consultations in these settings.

Wednesday 8 April, 7pm - 8pm

Webinar: Professor Keith Ridge, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer

This is a fortnightly webinar for community pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. This week’s guest is Dr Susan Hopkins, Public Health England’s National Incident Director for COVID-19.

Thursday 9 April 12pm - 1pm

Webinar: Keeping focused, safe and legal – running your CCG during the COVID-19 crisis

This webinar from NHS Clinical Commissioners, Browne Jacobson LLP and the Good Governance Institute will cover everything you need to know and answer any burning questions you may have about operating as a CCG in the current COVID-19 crisis.

These, and other webinars, are on primary care webinar page.

Nikki and Gabi's Link of the Day

COVID-19 guidance from NICE