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Primary Care Bulletin
22 September 2022
Dear colleagues,
The announcement outlines the new services and the expansion of existing services that pharmacy teams will be able to offer to patients and local communities, demonstrating our commitment to continue to make best use of the expertise and skills of pharmacy teams so that people have greater choice and convenience in how they access health care and advice.
In 2023 we will work with community pharmacy to offer a new contraception management service, take referrals from Urgent and Emergency Care centres, and expand the new medicines service to include anti-depressants. The existing blood pressure check and smoking cessation services will be reviewed to allow delivery by pharmacy technicians.
Also included in the deal is the pharmacy quality scheme, which incentivises pharmacy teams in the effective management of respiratory disease, antimicrobial stewardship, and referrals to weight management services. New criteria will be aimed at supporting those suffering domestic abuse, Level 3 safeguarding skills, improved access to medicines to support palliative and end of life care and training on early cancer diagnosis.
With World Pharmacists’ Day approaching on Sunday 25 September, we would like to say a huge thank you to pharmacist colleagues working across community pharmacy, PCNs and GP practices. We recognise the pressures facing the sector and the importance of these services to patients and the health system and we look forward to continuing to work with you to make a real difference to patient care.
Ursula and David
Dr Ursula Montgomery
GP and Interim Director for Primary Care,
NHS England
David Webb
Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England
Key updates including COVID-19
Reminder - Prioritising autumn COVID-19 vaccination of the housebound
As outlined in our letter of 18 August and in line with JCVI advice, providers should prioritise COVID-19 vaccinations of housebound citizens.
The GP COVID-19 vaccination Enhanced Service specification (phase 5) states that for the vaccination of housebound patients a £10 payment (in addition to the £10.06 vaccination administration fee) will be payable. If a GP practice is participating in the Phase 5 ES, they should vaccinate their housebound citizens or make alternative arrangements.
GP practices not participating in the Phase 5 ES should work with their local commissioner to ensure all housebound citizens that are registered with them are vaccinated.
Housebound citizens must not be referred to the 119 service as they cannot facilitate home vaccinations. GPs not participating in the Phase 5 ES should refer housebound citizens according to arrangements agreed with their local commissioner and ensure all staff (including at the reception) are aware of this.
National call and recall for 2 and 3 year olds as part of the seasonal flu programme
To support uptake of flu vaccination for 2 and 3 year olds this season, we are sending communications to parents and guardians advising them that their child of this age is eligible to be vaccinated against flu and should contact their child’s general practice to make an appointment. Practices can then book appointments for vaccination in line with their planned and future clinics. Text messages and emails will be sent from 21 September, and letters will follow for those individuals with no valid mobile number or email address.
Update of Influenza Vaccine Supply
We are informing you that flu vaccine suppliers still have vaccine stock available, including QIVc and QIVr. As advised by the JCVI, those in clinical risk groups who are aged 18-64 years should be prioritised to receive QIVc and QIVr followed by those not in at risk groups aged 50-64 years, but if these are not available QIVe can be used.
aQIV or QIVr is recommended for those aged 65 years and over with QIVc recommended only where aQIV or QIVr is not available.
The Ukrainian refugee health check assessment service is available on CQRS Local
The Ukrainian refugee health check assessment is a new enhanced service which commissioners and service providers, who are signed up to CQRS Local are able to participate in.
This new service is for GP practices to provide a health check to refugees arriving in the UK from Ukraine who are registered with them. This is not a mandatory service but is available if your commissioner wants to support this locally. Simply contact your commissioner and request a product demo: support@cqrs.co.uk or call 0330 124 4039.
General practice
Offering patients access to their future health information
In just over five weeks patients will be able to automatically view new entries in their online GP health record. Feedback from early adopter practices is that it takes 4-6 weeks to prepare. By preparing now, actions can be spread more manageably over several weeks.
Our updated GP readiness checklist supports practice staff in preparing for the change, outlining essential actions and signposting to resources. Practice managers are invited to join a webinar for guidance on what is required.
Please follow instructions for TPP/EMIS systems to check/update these settings before November.
Provide feedback about your experience of registrations and record transfers
NHS Digital is looking to improve processes around patient record transfers during registration, reduce risk to patients from delayed record delivery and reduce the administration burden on practices caused by paper records.
We want to hear from GP practice staff about their experiences with patient registrations / re-registrations and electronic / paper record transfers up to the point of summarising a patient’s health record. This will help us with our design solutions that will work in the practice environment and meet your needs.
NHS Resolution report sets out new claims baseline to support future improvements in general practice care
NHS Resolution has published a comprehensive review of the first year of the Clinical Negligence Scheme for General Practice (CNSGP), the indemnity scheme managed by NHS Resolution covering the NHS work of general practice in England for incidents occurring after 1 April 2019.
This report aims to understand why harm occurs in general practice, so that healthcare can be improved while reducing opportunities for incidents to arise, such as improving prescribing processes to improve patient outcomes.
Workforce data – reminder to PCNs and Practices
NHS Digital extract the latest general practice and PCN workforce data from the National Workforce Reporting Service (NWRS) at the end of each month. Practices and PCNs should log into their Strategic Data Collections Service (SDCS) account at least monthly to check and update their workforce details as necessary.
The information gathered from the NWRS is crucial for planning new workforce supply, providing support to primary care teams and understanding staff capacity in general practice and so it is critical that the information you submit to NHS Digital about your staff is accurate and reflects any staffing changes.
Community pharmacy
Updated Patient Group Direction (PGD) for the seasonal flu service
Following the publication of the Community Pharmacy Advanced Service Specification for seasonal influenza last month, the inactivated influenza vaccine PGD has been updated to reflect the changes to training requirements as set out in the Advanced Service Specification.
All vaccinators should ensure that the vaccine given to patients corresponds with the JCVI recommendations as set out in table format in Appendix C of the National flu immunisation programme 2022 to 2023 letter.
Community Pharmacy Workforce Survey 2022
New regulations laid out by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) require pharmacy contractors to complete an annual workforce survey from 2022. Community pharmacies in England will now be required to take part in the 2022 Community Pharmacy Workforce Survey from autumn 2022. The survey will be open for a period of up to eight weeks.
This new requirement recognises the priority the NHS places on the community pharmacy workforce, and the importance of collecting consistent, accurate data to support effective workforce planning.
Pharmacy professional leadership: have your say
The UK chief pharmaceutical officers would like to invite you to take part in the independent UK Commission for Pharmacy Professional Leadership’s Call for Evidence. This quick online survey closes at midnight on Wednesday 28 September.
Primary care
Physical health care for people with severe mental illness
A half-day, interactive course which looks at ways to improve the physical health of patients with severe mental illness, is taking place on the 19 October 2022.
The course is for primary care staff providing annual health checks to service users with complex mental and physical health needs. It covers how physical health monitoring brings better outcomes for service users with serious mental illness, and considers co-morbidities, whereby mental health problems among people with physical illnesses is costly for both our health system and wider society.
The impact of Physician Associates (PAs) in primary care - case studies
HEE is looking to work up case studies that focus on the national impact of PAs in Primary Care. This includes looking at how PA roles are utilised within organisations nationally, what impact these roles are having on teams, clinical service, PA employers, the wider organisation and patients, and the value of the PA role.
Interviews are being held with lead clinicians and senior decision makers who currently employ PAs and can speak to the above questions and the impact of PAs in their workforce. If you are interested in taking part in an interview, or have any other questions, please contact MAPs@hee.nhs.uk.
New online eating disorder learning on physical health assessments and monitoring
To support teams involved in the physical health assessment and monitoring of people with an eating disorder, we have worked in partnership with HEE and the charity Beat to launch short online medical monitoring eating disorder learning.
Upcoming events and webinars
Various dates, September – December. Public participation online learning programme
Various dates in September. Environment - NHS Net Zero webinar series
27 September, 11am – 12.30pm. FeNO learning collaborative meeting
28 September, 11am – 12.30pm. Super Skills: It's a Kinda Magic - creatively engaging and connecting with people
28 September, 12pm – 1pm. Sustainable healthcare: How to make your practice greener
28 September, 1pm – 2.30pm. The Role of Personalised Care Roles in Supporting Winter Pressures
4 October, 9.30am – 4.10pm. Every breath you treat - understanding the impact of air pollution across the life course
4 October, 1pm – 2pm. Primary Care Discussions: Antibiotics in Primary Care
5 October, 1pm – 2pm. Using GIRFT’s best practice pathway and guidance to improve care for children with abdominal pain
6 October, 12pm – 2pm. Primary Care Innovation Network
7 October, 1pm – 2pm. GPN National Update: Monthly Webinar
12 October, 9am – 5.15pm. NHS Genomics healthcare summit
19 October, 11am – 12pm. An introduction to working with people and communities
20 October, 1pm – 2.30pm. Trauma Informed Communications Skills and Setting Limits
20 October, 5pm – 6.30pm. Primary Care Health and Wellbeing Engagement Event - Flexibility in Primary Care
