COVID-19 Primary Care bulletin

4 May 2020

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

Dear primary care colleagues,

NHS Chief Operating Officer Amanda Pritchard has urged all providers to ensure that services remain available on e-RS To allow GPs and other healthcare professionals to make referrals using the NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS) and make two-week wait cancer, urgent and routine referrals as normal.

We know providers will be managing referrals in different ways, So NHS Digital has produced guidance that details the various features of the NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS) that can help referrals to be managed safely, triaged and processed according to clinical priority.

Secondary care providers should review this guidance and ensure that the most appropriate features are enabled as soon as possible.

On Friday we sent out guidance to primary care and community health to support care home residents during the pandemic. We are requesting all primary care and community health services help, building on what  many practices are already doing, to support care homes.

The healthcare needs of care home residents – combined with the impact of COVID-19, means that the task is more urgent than before. Please take some time to read the guidance and we will be discussing this further during our webinar on Thursday 7 May You can submit your questions in advance using this online form. You can also use this form to submit examples of working with care homes and other areas of good practice so that we can share learning with others.

In addition, the Chief Nurse has written to all CCGs to offer infection prevention and control training to care homes.   

Nikki and Ed

General practice 

Paediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have published guidance on paediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome temporally associated with COVID-19. Most children are asymptomatic or exhibit mild symptoms from COVID-19 infection. However, a small number have recently been identified who develop a significant systemic inflammatory response. This document for clinicians, which has been developed after expert review of the cases, includes a case definition and approach to clinical management. 

New Birth Registrations
We are aware that all Borough Birth Registrations have been closed and therefore parents are presenting to register their babies without a birth certificate. We would like to remind GP Practice that the registration of babies in a timely manner is business critical and a safeguarding requirement.  It is not a requirement for the parent(s) to provide, or the practice to have sight of the birth certificate in order to register the baby.  Please ensure that babies are registered with family and given names.  If the parents have not yet chosen a given name(s) ‘Baby’ should only be entered in exceptional circumstances and followed up an updated as soon as possible with given name(s).

Remote caring for registered patients stranded abroad
We are aware that in some areas, a message may have been circulated that indicated, where a GP Practice is providing remote care, advice or support to its registered patients that are stranded abroad, that this would not be covered by the Clinical Negligence Scheme for General Practice (CNSGP).  We would like to clarify CNSGP cover will apply in these circumstances as long as the GP is providing NHS primary medical services under one of the standard NHS general practice contracts (GMS, PMS, APMS) for England to a patient registered in England.  Location in this context is not important as even though the patient is abroad the GP would be providing their services as part of the health service in England.

Community pharmacy

Pharmacies are being asked to consider providing a safe space for victims of domestic abuse, as part of the UK SAYS NO MORE campaign run by Hestia, a national charity. Pharmacies are asked to display posters and where appropriate make their consultation rooms available as safe spaces where victims of domestic abuse can contact specialist domestic abuse services for support and advice.

The initiative is being supported by the General Pharmaceutical Council and Royal Pharmaceutical Society. For more information about how pharmacies can become a Safe Space, visit https://uksaysnomore.org/safespaces/

New legislation relating to controlled drugs
Three temporary emergency measures have been introduced by the UK Government into legislation [The Misuse of Drugs (Coronavirus) (Amendments Relating to the Supply of Controlled Drugs During a Pandemic etc.) Regulations 2020]. Please be aware that these new measures WILL NOT come into use now. These temporary measures would only potentially be used in limited circumstances in a particular area following an announcement by the Secretary of State if there were severe disruptions to the supply of repeat prescriptions of controlled drugs for patients. A further update is available on the GPhC website.

Dentistry 

What is an Aerosol Generating Procedure (AGP)?
Many dental professionals are seeking clarification on aerosol generating procedures. The Standard Operating Procedure for Urgent Dental Care Systems published on the 15 of April 2020 sets out in appendix 3, guidance for infection prevention and control in the urgent dental care settings. Included in this is a section prepared by Public Health England in consultation with the Faculty of Dental Surgery RCS England, the Faculty of General Dental Practice UK and Specialist Societies is a description of what are considered to be AGP and non-AGP dental procedures. Further information can be found in this glossary of terms, and the guidance on infection and prevention control.

Optometry

The most recent guidance letter for optical staff is available on our website.

Additional information

Primary care wellbeing survey
We would like to understand the current wellbeing of the primary care workforce, and invite you to take part in a short survey undertaken by the Institute for Employment Studies to support this and to support the wider evaluation of the #lookingafteryoutoo  Primary care coaching offer. The survey will take no longer that 5 minutes to complete and will contribute to our ongoing response to support your wellbeing.

Dates for your diary 

Upcoming webinars

• 6 May, 5-6pm The role of mental health services and support for rough sleepers

• 6 May, 7-8pm: Community Pharmacy webinar with Keith Ridge and Ed Waller

• 7 May, 11am: Homeless Health webinar

• 7 May, 5-6.30pm: Primary Care webinar with Nikki Kanani and Ed Waller including a Q&A session

​To catch up on previous webinars visit Future NHS

Nikki and Ed's Link of the Day

eGPlearning : Primary Care