COVID-19 Primary Care bulletin

21 August 2020

COVID-19: this week's round-up for primary care

Dear colleagues,

Nikki and Ed are both taking some time off this week, leaving Raj and Ali in charge. It is so important to take annual leave and recharge, so even though you may not be going away please do plan some time off in your busy schedule. Thank you for your continuing hard work in restoring services to as near to normal as possible.   

New infection prevention and control guidance 

Public Health England has published updated infection prevention and control (IPC) guidance. The guidance applies to all healthcare settings and supersedes previous guidance. It takes account of increasing experience and knowledge in managing COVID-19 and is based on the best available global evidence. The guidance has been updated to help you to assess how settings can be classified by risk with appropriate infection prevention and control measures.

Non-sterile gowns – important information

Flosteril FLO-MED-8130 non-sterile gowns do not meet minimum standards for fluid resistance. Providers are asked to check their stocks and quarantine any unused gowns. The attached alert contains images of the product packaging and the affected product Stock Keeping Units.

The attachment is dated 11 August which is when it was originally issued via the PPE supply channel. If providers have already received the alert via another channel and acted on the instructions, then no further action is required.

Raj and Ali

General practice

Update to European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) reporting process

National Back Office has made some operational changes which means that the email address you would usually send any EHIC information collected at GP registration to has now changed to nhsdigital.costrecovery@nhs.net.

Please ensure that when you are submitting this information to National Back Office you are using the new email address as above. Any forms sent to the old email address will not be received or processed.

If you have any questions, please contact Samantha.Pease@dhsc.gov.uk.

Registering patients prior to their release from the secure residential estate

GPs have a contractual obligation as set out in the NHS England Standard General Medical Services (GMS) Contract 2017/18 (page 64) to support with registering patients prior to their release from the secure residential estate. GP practices are asked to ensure that processes are in place to support this, with information on how to do this here.

Plans are also progressing to enable patients to register with a GP in their place of detention in the same way as they register with a community GP. This will be rolled out next year in a phased approach across England.

Community pharmacy

Registration for the Interim Foundation Pharmacist Programme is now live

Registration is open for the Interim Foundation Pharmacist Programme (IFPP) and the course begins from September 2020. Provisionally registered pharmacists should sign up to the Health Education England (HEE) dedicated IFPP web page. This includes a flowchart outlining the eligibility criteria and process, and the registration form. HEE is updating its FAQs regularly.

The Centre for Postgraduate Pharmacy Education will deliver the IFPP for provisionally registered pharmacists who work in community pharmacy. Find out more on the CPPE website. The new RPS E-portfolio for provisional registrants is also live, and funded for the 12-month duration of the programme.

To request the weekly email updates or submit your questions, please contact fpp@hee.nhs.uk.

Pharmacy Quality Scheme Part 2 for 2020/21 – initial update

The Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS) Part 2 has been agreed and the final, detailed requirements will be published in the Drug Tariff in September. In the meantime, community pharmacies are being asked to look at the initial information shared on the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee’s website. It has been agreed that completion of the Part 1 scheme will be a Gateway requirement for the Part 2 scheme.

We would like to emphasise the PCN domain where community pharmacy and GP practices will need to collaborate to maximise flu vaccine uptake. In addition, community pharmacy is being asked to coordinate with their PCNs regarding business continuity during the pandemic.

Pharmacy contractors are asked to ensure that all outstanding staff risk assessments are undertaken and mitigating actions put in place as soon as possible.

Dentistry

PPE orders for Dental providers

From Monday 17 August the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will be emailing Dental  providers, inviting them to register with the PPE portal. The portal has been developed by DHSC in partnership with eBay UK, NHS Supply Chain, Clipper and Royal Mail. Emails will come from PPE Dedicated Supply Channel (please note this email address does not accept incoming emails): ppe.dedicated.supply.channel@notifications.service.gov.uk. Please ensure that you are regularly checking the email account you use to communicate with NHS BSA in order to ensure that the invitation is received and actioned.

Registration on the portal requires a unique email address – therefore, we will not be sending multiple invitations to duplicate email addresses held by the NHS BSA across contracts. We will be inviting customers who create new NHS Mail accounts to register with the Portal on a weekly basis going forward.

Providers are encouraged to register promptly, to ensure they can order emergency personal protective equipment (PPE) from a central inventory. This is to supplement (not replace) the wholesale supply route that already operates. New users will initially have small order limits, but these are under review. On registration if the majority of activity you undertake is dental, please self-identify as dentists and if the majority of activity you undertake is orthodontic, please self-identify as orthodontists.

Orders through the portal should arrive within 48 hours if placed before 1pm. Orders placed after 1pm will be subject to an additional 24-hours. Information on what items are available for your sector and size will be made available from Monday 17 August on the DHSC guidance page. If providers have any queries or have not received an email invite by close of play Friday 21 August please contact the PPE portal customer services at: 0800 876 6802.

Optometry

PPE orders for Optometry providers

From Monday 17 August the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will be emailing Optometry providers, inviting them to register with the PPE portal. The portal has been developed by DHSC in partnership with eBay UK, NHS Supply Chain, Clipper and Royal Mail. Emails will come from PPE Dedicated Supply Channel (please note this email address does not accept incoming emails): ppe.dedicated.supply.channel@notifications.service.gov.uk. Please ensure that you are regularly checking your NHS email account in order to ensure that the invitation is received and actioned.

We will be inviting customers who create new NHS Mail accounts to register with the Portal on a weekly basis going forward. For optical contractors who do not currently have an NHS mail account, you can apply for one via an online form found here. Creating a new account via this temporary streamlined process is taking no more than 2 weeks, and the requirement to complete the DSPT toolkit has been deferred until 31 March 2021.

Providers are encouraged to register promptly, to ensure they can order emergency personal protective equipment (PPE) from a central inventory. This is to supplement (not replace) the wholesale supply route that already operates. New users will initially have small order limits, but these are under review.

Orders through the portal should arrive within 48 hours if placed before 1pm. Orders placed after 1pm will be subject to an additional 24-hours. Information on what items are available for your sector and size will be made available from Monday 17 August on the DHSC guidance page. If providers have any queries or have not received an email invite by close of play Friday 21 August please contact the PPE portal customer services at: 0800 876 6802.

Additional information

Support for recruitment of additional social prescribing link workers – reminder

Monday 24 August is the closing date for expressions of interest from PCNs interested in recruiting more social prescribing link workers.

This offer is only available until 31 January 2021, and provides funding to cover recruitment and induction costs for additional Network DES funded SPLWs. FAQs relating to the offer can be found here. For any enquiries, please contact: england.linkworkerrecruitment@nhs.net.

Video consultations – new resources

To support primary care in delivering video consultations, two new resources have been published. These are visual resources, intended to support patients and staff in the use of video technology when conducting appointments.

Video consulting with your NHS is a quick step-by-step guide for patients which explains the benefits of a video consultation and provides practical guidance on how to start, have and finish a video consultation. A similar quick step-by-step guide aimed at NHS staff is also available and covers practical tips on running a video consultation.

Primary care networks and care homes

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into sharp focus how important it is for primary care network teams to be well organised and support care home residents and staff.

The NHS Confederation’s PCN Network’s new briefing explores pharmacy’s role in PCN multidisciplinary teams supporting care homes, including case studies, top tips and where to go for support.

This week's case study

A GP perspective on social prescribing and the response to COVID-19 in Merton

Mohan Sekeram is GP Principal at Wideway Medical Practice in Merton, RCGP Regional Clinical Lead London (Person Centred Care) and Clinical Lead for Social Prescribing in Wandsworth and Merton Borough.

We asked him about his experience of social prescribing in lockdown, and why he is convinced the PCNs should be including social prescribing link workers in their COVID-19 recovery plans.

Dates for your diary

Thursday 3 September, 5 - 6pm - General Practice webinar.

The next General Practice webinar with Nikki Kanani and Ed Waller will include a focus on remote consultations and include a guest speaker from National Voices. This is a closed webinar for those working in or with general practice. To attend please register in advance.

Tuesday 8 September, 11.30am - 12.45pm - Building back from COVID-19: tackling health inequality in partnership.

The second in a series of NHS England and Improvement Integrated Care webinars - run in collaboration with SCIE - will look at tackling health inequalities in partnership; how systems can work together and plan for action at both system and place level. Further details about the webinars, and a range of other useful webinars for colleagues working in STPs and ICSs, can be found on the Integrated Care Learning Network.

NHS Volunteer Responder programme updates

Fortnightly webinars are being held to provide regular updates on the NHS Volunteer Responder programme. The webinars are for referrers and colleagues working across health and care, including: primary care; social care; local authorities; government departments; voluntary sector organisations; STPs and ICSs; and NHS England and Improvement regional teams.

These webinars will provide an overview of the programme, including facts, figures and the most recent updates on programme adaptations in response to policy changes and the needs of vulnerable people.

• Thursday 3 September, 11am - 12pm - Join Microsoft Teams Meeting
• Thursday 17 September, 11am - 12pm - Join Microsoft Teams Meeting
• Thursday 1 October, 11am - 12pm - Join Microsoft Teams Meeting

Online workshops on remote monitoring

During the COVID-19 outbreak, some NHS organisations used technology to support people with COVID-19 at home. If you would like to know more, and are keen to establish a similar service locally, join this webinar series to hear from the clinicians involved about how this worked, what they did and what the benefits were.

• Tuesday 8 September, 10am - 11am - Tech-enabled Virtual Ward Model - the West Herts experience, led by Dr Matthew Knight
• Tuesday 22 September, 10am - 11am - The primary care hot hub - the West London experience, led by Dr Tony Willis and Dr Kuldhir Johal

The online workshops will use Microsoft Teams and will be recorded. To talk about the workshops please contact us at InnovationCollaborative@future.nhs.uk.