3 November 2020

Dear colleagues,

With the announcement from the Prime Minster that England will enter a lockdown from Thursday until 2 December, the Government's guidance states that “a number of public services will also stay open and you will be able to leave home to visit them. These include [...] the NHS and medical services like GPs”.

We want to confirm that during the period of tighter restrictions all primary care services (GP practices, dental practices, pharmacies and optometry providers) will remain open to treat patients in line with their standard operating procedures, offering care which is safe, necessary and clinically prioritised.

Thank you for your continued dedication in caring for and supporting your communities in these challenging times. Look after yourselves and stay safe.

Nikki and Ed

COVID-19 updates and guidance

Action needed to support people considered clinically extremely vulnerable

The Government will be issuing new guidance for people who are clinically extremely vulnerable and will be writing to people on the Shielded Patient List (SPL) explaining the new advice.

Our letters to GPs and NHS Trusts explain the steps needed to ensure the SPL is as accurate as possible so patients receive the most appropriate advice and support. General practices are asked to support the addition of adults with Down’s syndrome, and to ensure that any remaining children on the SPL who were added by the practice are reviewed rapidly and removed from the list if appropriate. Patients may start to contact practices proactively as they become aware of these changes. We have worked with patient groups to develop materials and support for these additional cohorts and these will be made available to primary care colleagues.

Information to help you with maintaining the SPL is on the NHS Digital website.

Covid swab testing available to general practice

NHS Test and Trace is making Covid swab testing available to general practices in England. The service will be available to all practices on a voluntary, opt in basis and swabs are intended to be self-administered. This will be a supplementary option for practices and does not replace any of the existing routes to access testing. Members of the public will continue to be directed to regional testing centres or home testing kits in the first instance.

These tests can be offered to patients who present with Covid symptoms in general practice settings, to streamline patient care and increase access to testing for patients who would otherwise be unlikely to get a test via the primary testing routes. For example, due to barriers around language, disability or digital inclusion. Practices can use their discretion to offer the swabs where they deem it to be clinically appropriate.

Following requests from GPs to have increased access to testing, these tests will also be available for symptomatic GPs, practice staff and their symptomatic household members to support general practice settings remaining operational. Test results for anyone using these swabs will be sent to patients and flow into GP records, in the same manner as other pillar 2 test results.

All practices will shortly receive further information via email and an invitation to attend webinars to learn more about the service and how to opt in.

General practice 

Update: flu vaccination for 2-3 year olds and over 65s

We wrote at the end of September to the parents/guardians of all children aged 2-3 years inviting them to have their child vaccinated against flu.

While the influenza uptake for 2-3 year olds is the highest it has ever been at this point in the season we are now contacting those parents/guardians that have not yet taken the opportunity to have their child vaccinated so that we can increase understanding of the reasons why and to encourage uptake. As a result, some parents/guardians may receive a call from the number 0300 561 0230 and will be announced as the NHS Immunisation Management Service.

Please note many four-year olds will fall into the category of being three years old before 31 August 2020 but having had a birthday since.  

Letters will also be going out shortly to those 65 and over reminding them to book their flu vaccination appointment.

Additional queries can be found on the NHSE website.

General practice - latest updates

Community pharmacy

DHSC guidance for community pharmacies on accessing DHSC centrally supplied flu vaccines

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has issued guidance for community pharmacies on accessing DHSC centrally supplied flu vaccines. The guidance is for community pharmacies in England providing seasonal flu vaccination as part of NHS Pharmaceutical Services. Guidance for GPs and other NHS Providers has been released separately. Please note that the stock will be available from later this month, and DHSC will advise on when and where stock is available.

Dentistry

NHS dentistry webinar with the Chief Dental Officer and Public Health England

Sara Hurley is holding a webinar on Thursday 5 November at 4.30pm on how infection prevention control and the new fallow time requirements are due to work in dental settings. She will be joined by representatives from Public Health England and our Deputy Chief Dental Officers Eric Rooney and Jason Wong. The webinar will last approximately an hour. Register online to attend. Once you have registered for the webinar you will be sent a link to join.

Dentistry and oral health bulletin

Stay up to date with the latest NHS dentistry news by signing up to the new dentistry and oral health bulletin.  

Primary care

Flu vaccinations for carers and people with a learning disability

Two short films have been produced on flu vaccinations. The first is for carers of people with a learning disability about the importance of vaccinating themselves and the people they care for. The second is about vaccinating people with a learning disability and autistic people with certain health conditions. Both cover why it is important, who is eligible for a free vaccine, where you can get the vaccine and reasonable adjustments.

Dates for your diary

Wednesday 4 November, 1pm - 2pm. Digital Nurse Network webinar

REACT Mental Health Conversation training – new dates for November

These short remote live training sessions for managers, supervisors and those with caring responsibilities for NHS people will train colleagues to identify people in their teams or community who may be struggling with their mental health, initiate a supportive wellbeing conversation, confidently hold the conversation using active listening skills, and signpost them to appropriate support. Book a session.

Wednesday 4 November, 1.30pm – 2.30pm. Additional Roles in Primary Care – Social Prescribing Link Workers

Thursday 5 November, 4.30pm - 5.30pm. NHS dentistry webinar with the Chief Dental Officer

Thursday 5 November, 5pm - 6pm. General Practice webinar with Ed Waller and Nikki Kanani. To attend please ensure you register by 12pm on 5 November. If you have registered for the previous two webinars you will not need to register again as we are using a rolling registration system. 

Monday 9 November, 11.30am - 12.30pm. Integrated Care webinar series: The future of place – planning recovery in partnership

Wednesday 11 November, 9am - 8pm. NHS Confederation: PCN Network virtual conference

Wednesday 11 November, 12.30pm. Supporting CVD Prevention in Primary Care

Thursday 12 November, 6pm - 7pm. Community pharmacy webinar with Keith Ridge and Ed Waller. To attend please ensure you register by 12pm on 12 November.

NHS Volunteer Responder programme update webinars

Fortnightly webinars are being held to provide regular updates on the NHS Volunteer Responder programme.

• Thursday 12 November, 10.30 – 11.30am - Join Microsoft Teams Meeting
• Thursday 26 November, 10.30 – 11.30am - Join Microsoft Teams Meeting
• Thursday 10 December, 10.30 – 11.30am - Join Microsoft Teams Meeting

Link of the day

Operation Vaccination is a campaign to increase awareness in Muslim communities about the importance of getting a flu vaccination this winter