WELCOME TO OUR SEPTEMBER 2023 NEWSLETTER

This publication is sent to all Essex GP Practices via their Practice Managers. However, we encourage anyone who would like to receive this communication directly, to subscribe below. 

Forthcoming Finance Webinars For GPs

Chase de Vere (part of BMA Services) will be delivering five webinars between October 2023 and May 2024 on behalf of Essex LMCs in regards to Pensions, Achieving Financial Goals, Getting Financially Fit for 2024, Pre-Tax Year Considerations, and Financial Considerations for GP Transitions.

All GPs working in Essex are welcome to attend these webinars.  A summary from Chase de Vere of what will be covered is included on our website:

Register with a GP Surgery Service

The Register with a GP surgery service gives all GP practices in England a standardised way of taking registrations online. It makes it simpler and more accessible for patients to register with a GP and easier for practices to manage registrations. 

The service is designed and run by NHS England and is free for NHS GP practices to use.

SUDI Thinking Tool

Although sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) is now rare, in 2020 there remained 168 unexplained infant deaths across the entire UK (Statistics on SIDS – The Lullaby Trust). Accurate research and information are now available about how and where babies die and more so, how to prevent them dying. All professionals in contact with service users have a crucial role to support families to understand how to avoid the specific risks for their baby, targeted to their specific needs.

Hertfordshire and West ICB have produced a ‘Safer Sleep for Babies’ document.

Undergraduate GP Placement Survey

Medical Schools across the UK are currently struggling to identify adequate placement providers in General Practice. A survey is now available which aims to identify the factors which affect a practice's decision to host undergraduate medical students. It is fully anonymous and should take no longer than 5 minutes to complete.

GP Practice Improvement Plan

NHS England recently published the Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care. This plan introduces the new General Practice Improvement Programme which  will help practices move to a model of general practice that is safer, more efficient and more inclusive.

The GPIP programme is designed to provide three tiers of support to help practices to deliver change covering five priority areas, with two tiers still open for registering your place on a supporting webinar.

Are you making the most of your Buying Group membership?

When was the last time you reviewed how much your practice is spending on the products and services you regularly buy? The cost of living crisis is really starting to bite and even GP practices will be looking for ways to reduce running costs. This is where your free membership to the LMC Buying Group can really come in handy as it offers practices access to discounts on a wide range of products and services. They can help you save money on numerous items.

Practice Manager Supporter Scheme

The LMC is seeking applications for Practice/PCN Manager Supporters for the Essex LMC Practice Manager Supporter Scheme.  We are looking to recruit three supporters from the following areas:-

• 1 x South Essex
• 1 x North East Essex
• 1 x West Essex

Supporters are available to offer all managers support and signposting to advice. They provide ad-hoc advice and support to their manager colleagues and offer learning opportunities to support their Continuous Professional Development.  Supporters will support peers, and offer coaching and mentoring to new and experienced managers, in person, virtually, via email or on the telephone.

Applications will close at 5:00pm on Monday 16th October 2023 and interviews are expected to take place week commencing 23rd October 2023.

QOF Target Questionnaire Reminder

The LMC continues to be aware of the difficulties that some practices experience in achieving the Childhood Vaccinations and Immunisations QOF targets because of not being able to exception report for parental refusals or missing the schedule deadline due to new registrations.

We continue to be keen to understand the extent of the problem in Essex and, if you are a practice affected by this, we would be grateful if you could complete our short questionnaire in order for us to collate such information that will be shared with GPC to further inform ongoing discussions with NHS England.

We ask for all affected practices, where possible, to supply this information to us through our questionnaire.

GP Practice Workforce Data

Using data from NHS Digital, we now provide workforce data for Essex GP Practices, and male/female GP ratio documents, both commencing from November 2022. 

Appointments in General Practice

Through NHS Digital, we are able to obtain data on appointments that have taken place in general practice across Essex. The data that we can extrapolate is useful for us to see how many appointments have been offered in a month, and how many patients were seen face to face for example.

We now produce appointment data flyers that can be displayed in your practice. Please see below for more information.

Do you need help with PCSE cases?

Have you waited for more than 40 days for a response from PCSE for a case raised with them? Are you experiencing financial hardship as a result? Or, is there a risk to patient safety? If you have answered yes to any of these questions, then the LMC can help you.

Essex LMCs on Social Media

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