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Primary Care Bulletin - this week's round-up
8 July 2021
Dear colleagues,
Today the annual GP patient survey has been published and despite it being an incredibly challenging year for everyone, it’s great to see overall trust and satisfaction with general practice has increased, with 83% of patients describing their overall experience of their GP practice as good and 7 in 10 patients reporting a good experience when making an appointment.
It’s also positive to see that patients are getting to see the wider general practice team including over a quarter of appointments with a nurse, showing the value and importance of the wider primary care family. Dr Graham Jackson, GP and Senior Clinical Advisor at the NHS Confederation welcomed the increase in patient satisfaction and acknowledged that colleagues in primary care are working hard to address the backlog of those who stayed away can be prioritised based on need.
We’d like to thank everyone in general practice for being there for their patients and communities.
Infection Prevention Control IPC in healthcare settings
Following the PMs announcement that face coverings will be optional and social distancing will not be necessary from 19 July, it is important to note that current IPC guidance remains in place at this time.
Lateral flow device distribution and assuring compliance to testing regimes
Asymptomatic staff testing remains an important component of infection prevention and control, which all organisations and staff should adhere to. From Monday 5 July, NHS staff can order their tests directly through the government lateral flow test ordering portal for delivery to their home address.
Primary care staff will continue to report their test on the gov.uk website as per current practice. Trusts can choose whether to continue with their internal method of reporting results as per current practice, or whether to direct staff to reporting on the gov.uk website. More information is in our letter and supporting guidance.
New appointment
Finally, we’re pleased to welcome Dr Amanda Doyle, current Chief Officer of Lancashire and South Cumbria ICS, who has been appointed as NHS England and NHS Improvement’s new Regional Director for the North West. It’s great to have another GP in the senior leadership team.
Nikki and Ed
Dr Nikki Kanani
GP and Medical Director for Primary Care,
NHS England and NHS Improvement
Ed Waller
Director for Primary Care, NHS England and NHS Improvement
COVID-19 updates
Acceleration of second doses for all cohorts
The government has set out their latest guidance for appointments of a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to be brought forward from 12 to eight weeks for the remaining people in all cohorts who have yet to receive their second dose. Our letter published on 6 July outlines what actions are needed across all vaccination sites settings.
General practice
Blood lead concentrations in children and pregnant women
Lead exposure is especially harmful in young children and the developing foetus. Blood lead concentration (BLC) is measured to determine recent exposure and alongside clinical evaluation helps to guide clinical and public health actions.
On the basis of this report by the lead intervention concentration working group, Public Health England recommends that the public health intervention concentration and surveillance case definition for children under 16 years old and pregnant women should be lowered from ≥10μg/dL (0.48μmol/L) to ≥5μg/dL (≥0.24μmol/L).
Changes to funding routes for planned treatment abroad
The ways in which patients can access planned treatment abroad have changed following the UK leaving the EU on 31 December 2020. Pre-authorised planned treatment at state-run facilities continues to operate under the S2 funding route but the EU directive rote is no longer available for patients starting treatment after 31 December 2020.
Practitioners should direct patients considering receiving planned treatment abroad to the official S2 funding route. This will not require patients to pay their treatment costs up-front. Patients should be wary of using third party services which organise planned treatment abroad on their behalf, as these services often rely on the EU directive route and may not be able to refund the treatment costs. There have been several cases of patients being out of pocket due to using these services. Information on
the EU directive is available here.
New website: pre-memory clinic support
DCAN (Dementia Change Action Network) have published the Next Steps website to support people who are waiting for a memory assessment appointment. The website is for anyone who has been referred for an appointment at a memory assessment service as well as family members, carers, and organisations who support them. It helps people to find the right support at the right time and includes information on what to expect from the assessment process and ways to support wellbeing. A link to this website could be given to people by their GP while a referral to a memory clinic is made or be included on an appointment letter from a memory clinic.
Time for Care – Primary Care Improvement Faculty Training Programme
NHS England and NHS Improvement’s Time for Care team is a national quality improvement team, which builds the capability and capacity of general practice colleagues to achieve their aims and ambitions. This opportunity is for those working in and around primary care in England, who want to build on their existing knowledge and experience of quality improvement. The comprehensive training programme combines quality improvement tools and techniques, practical approaches to the human dimensions of change as well as presentation and facilitation skills. Find out more and check out the full criteria.
Transfer of patient records from English GP practices to GP practices in Wales
The GP2GP electronic patient records transfer system used for the electronic transfer of patient records between GP practices when a patient moves practice does not work for patients moving from England to Wales.
To avoid practices in Wales receiving an empty Lloyd George envelope, when a patient registered with a practice in England has transferred to a practice in Wales, and the practice receives a request to transfer the patient record from England to Wales, the practice should check that the Lloyd George envelope contains a full printout of the electronic record and is sent via the Primary Care Support England process (PCSE). GP practices can contact PCSE for support. This is also applicable to Scotland and Northern Ireland.
GP practices are responsible for ensuring the transfer of patient records (electronic and paper Lloyd George notes) and confidential information to GP practices in Wales, having full regard to confidentiality and data protection requirements, Records Management: NHS Code of Practice guidance, and any relevant guidance from the NHS Digital or the Information Commissioner's Office.
Pharmacy
Aligning the upper age for NHS prescription charge exemptions with the State Pension age
The government is seeking views on changing the age at which older people in England become eligible for free prescriptions, from 60 to 66 years of age. The consultation is open until 11.45pm on Thursday 26 August.
Your chance to inform staff training in primary care
Health Education England and NHS England and NHS Improvement would like to hear from pharmacists about their experiences of remote triage, care navigation, online and video consultations in general practice. Your input will allow us to design effective training to support all primary care staff and trainees to confidently work with these approaches.
If you would like to be interviewed, please contact Frances Brown at Nightingale Research at francesbrown@nightingaledesignresearch.com by the 14
July. Find out more about the study. For any questions about the project contact the Digital First Primary Care team at
england.digitalfirstprimarycare@nhs.net.
Dentistry
The latest dentistry and oral health bulletin (Friday 2 July)
Chief Dental Officer for England Sara Hurley and Director for Primary Care Ed Waller provide an update for dental professionals.
Primary care
Tackling health inequalities – guidance and reports
Rates of obesity in England are rising, with a strong systemic relationship between obesity and deprivation. A briefing from the King’s Fund explores the role of the health and care system in tackling obesity, focusing on how the NHS can work with local partners and engage with communities to deliver targeted interventions to treat and prevent obesity.
Social welfare law provides protective rights and entitlements to shield the vulnerable from most of the factors known to harm health and wellbeing. The Health Justice Partnership’s ‘Law for health’ guidance supports the use of free legal services in tackling social determinants of health.
Finally, the Health Foundation's COVID-19 impact inquiry has produced a report reviewing the factors that fuelled the UK’s Coronavirus death toll, highlighting in particular how poor health and existing inequalities left parts of the UK vulnerable to the virus
and defined the contours of its devastating impact.
New analysis of research into boosting health through primary care conversations
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)’s latest research Collection offers advice to staff on how to maximise the impact of each patient consultations by giving useful lifestyle and mental health advice, for example on obesity and smoking. The research summary and commentaries give techniques and suggested phrases for increasing the effectiveness of these conversations.
A message from Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to NHS staff
Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, offers his thanks and support to all those working in the NHS – read his message.
Guidance on migrant health
Public Health England has produced two animations aimed at healthcare professionals: Clarifying NHS entitlements for migrants and Keeping up to date with vaccinations for migrants. It has also updated information about NHS entitlements.
Blogs, case studies and podcasts
Blog: Brief conversations in primary care are a golden opportunity to boost health
Deniz Gursul, Research Dissemination Officer for NIHR Evidence at the NIHR Centre for Engagement and Dissemination (CED), discusses recent research from the NIHR encouraging primary care staff to make the most of consultations.
Podcast on Prescription
The National Academy for Social Prescribing was established to advance social prescribing through promotion, collaboration and innovation. Its new podcast, Podcast on Prescription, shines a light on the power of social prescribing with a special guest each week, hosted by Dr Radha Modgil, GP, broadcaster, author and Social Prescribing Ambassador.
Key dates
Upcoming events and webinars
Tuesday 13 July, 5.30pm - 6.50pm. Recovery and transformation of eye care services
Thursday 15 July, 10am - 11am. Digitally excluded people's experience of remote GP appointments
Thursday 15 July, 5pm - 6pm. General Practice webinar
Wednesday 21 July, 1.30pm - 2.30pm. Social Prescribing for Armed Forces Personnel, Veterans and their Families
Wednesday 21 July, 2pm - 3pm. GP career support offers webinar
Tuesday 27 July, 9am - 11am. Welcome to General Practice webinar for GP trainees and newly qualified GPs
Link of the day
