COVID-19 Primary Care bulletin

30 June 2020

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

Dear colleagues,

The 2020 GP Patient Survey (GPPS) will be published at 9.30am on Thursday 9 July 2020. The survey is sent out to more than two million people, aged 16 and over, every year who are registered with GP practices across England. As in previous years, the results will cover broad information about experiences of primary care – primarily in general practice but with some questions relating to NHS primary care dental services – and monitors a wide range of experiences including ease of making appointments, waiting times, opening hours, treatment and care planning by healthcare professionals. 

The findings will be published at www.gp-patient.co.uk by Ipsos MORI.

Nikki and Ed

General practice

New to Partnership Payment Scheme

The New to Partnership Payment Scheme (N2PP) provides an opportunity for eligible health care professionals to become a partner at your GP practice and in return receive up to £20,000 plus a contribution towards on-costs of up to £4,000 (for a full time participant). The funding is available to support establishment as a partner, as well as up to £3,000 in a training fund to develop non-clinical partnership skills.

In order to participate in the scheme, applicants will be required to submit an application form and supplementary evidence to us and meet the eligibility criteria.

Eligible roles are General Practitioners, Nurses (including Advanced Nurse Practitioners), Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians, Physiotherapists, Paramedics, Midwifes, Dietitians, Podiatrists, Occupational Therapists, Mental Health Practitioners working in general practice.

This scheme was a commitment in Update to the GP Contract agreement 2020/21–2023/24, forming part of the suite of interlocking GP recruitment and retention initiatives and was delayed launching during the height of COVID-19 pandemic.

The overarching aim of the scheme is to grow the number of partners working in primary care, stabilising the partnership model and helping to increase clinicians’ participation levels so that primary medical care and the patients it serves have access to the workforce they need.

A guide to the scheme, frequently asked questions and the application form can be found on our website. If you have any queries, please contact the team. 

Clinical guidance for healthcare professionals on maintaining immunisation programmes during COVID-19

NHS England and NHS Improvement, together with Public Health England, has published clinical guidance for healthcare professionals on maintaining our NHS immunisation programmes during COVID-19.

It underlines that the routine immunisation programme must be maintained, and gives advice on how to approach some of the specific challenges practices may face in doing this. It also includes a series of FAQs that can be used in communication with the public. The production of the guidance has been supported by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH).

Reminder: Infant pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) schedule

Public Health England has published guidance for healthcare practitioners on changes to the infant pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) schedule. Included in this guidance is what to do if infants are given the incorrect schedule for their date of birth – for infants born on/after 1 January 2020 who are inadvertently given a dose of PCV13 before 12 weeks of age, they should be offered a second dose of PCV13 from 12 weeks of age allowing a minimum interval of 4 weeks between PCV13 doses.

All children will require a 12 month booster dose of PCV.

Community pharmacy

Home delivery of medicines and appliances service during the COVID-19 outbreak

The NHS Home Delivery Service will be commissioned from both community pharmacies and dispensing doctors from 2 July until 31 July 2020, to ensure access to prescription medicines for shielded patients during the phased easing of restrictions announced by the Government on 22 June.

The provision of this service throughout July will enable patients who are shielding, time to make alternative arrangements for access to their prescription medications, after which the COVID-19 home delivery services will cease to be commissioned. Formal notification will be sent shortly with further information.

Community health

Call for submissions: share your innovative work in community health service settings

Thank you to everyone who responded to our survey on innovation in general practice and community pharmacy. In addition, we are now seeking examples of innovation in community health services, or between community health services and primary care.  

As we move into the next phase of NHS recovery, NHS England and NHS Improvement want to hear from clinicians, clinical leaders, operational leads and others about changes community health service teams have made and the resulting benefits.

These will help to ensure beneficial changes to care are captured and embedded in our services, so that we can translate these into improved care for patients well into the future. Today is the last day to submit your experiences here.

Dentistry

The most recent guidance letter and standard operating procedure for dental services is available on our website.

Optometry

The most recent guidance letter and standard operating procedure for optical staff is available on our website.

Additional information

Shielding update: letter to patients

Translations and accessible formats of the Government’s letter sent to patients who are shielding are now available.

Further resources on the People site

The NHS People site in continually updating its content with support and resources for all NHS staff, including those working in and for primary care. 

As well as hosting details of the primary care coaching offer, this week the site has published new guidance on ‘Shielding and returning to work’ and a ‘Guide to Good Sleep’. Please do share these tools widely with your staff and remind colleagues of the free mental health apps available to all primary care NHS staff.  

A big birthday thank-you

Colleagues are being urged to take part in the biggest ‘thank-you’ the country has ever seen on the birthday of the NHS this coming weekend.

All this week our social media channels will be celebrating the work of primary care services, while looking ahead to how we can strengthen these services through vital recruitment, ensure staff feel supported with their health and wellbeing and that we all work to reduce the inequities between BAME and white NHS staff and patients.

Then on Saturday evening everybody will be asked to put a light in their windows in remembrance of those we have lost during the pandemic. And, on Sunday at 5pm, the whole country will stand still for an epic round of applause for our doctors, nurses, key workers, volunteers and all those who have kept our country running during the past few months.

Caring for our most vulnerable residents - so much more than a virtual ‘check in’

If you are looking for information and tools to support virtual check-ins and video consultations with care homes, you might find this blog helpful from Dr Matt Hoghton, GP and Clinical Advisor, Digital Primary Care NHSX.

Dates for your diary 

Thursday 2 July, 5-6pm – GP webinar with Nikki and Ed

Monday 6 July, 2-3pm – Supporting communities at the sharp edge of inequality during COVID-19. Register for this webinar to find out about some of the challenges being faced by refugees, migrants and asylum seekers, Gypsies and Travellers, Roma communities and sex workers during coronavirus and to hear about how you can help to address these.

Thursday 9 July, 3pm or Friday 10 July, 11am – Primary care video library onboarding webinar. Health and Care Innovations are inviting NHS staff to join onboarding webinars which will provide an introduction to their video library and how to enable staff to maximise the use of videos right across the health system.