Primary Care Bulletin

10 November 2022

Dear colleagues,

Supporting our health and wellbeing and that of our staff and colleagues is critically important at any time, and especially so as we head into a busy winter period.

This week is Stress Awareness Week, and we wanted to share with you this graphic which has been created to let staff know how they can access care and services to help support their mental health should they need to. It covers a range of options, from self-help and techniques to deal with worries or boost  mental wellbeing on the Every Mind Matters platform, alongside how to seek urgent NHS mental health support in a crisis. There is also an editable version of the graphic available to download to customise with local service details if helpful for systems and services to share with staff.

Please remember, there is also support available for you and your teams, covering confidential coaching, access to the Practitioner Health service, and staff mental health and wellbeing hubs.

Finally, thank you for all your continued hard work.

Minal and Kiren

General practice

Accelerating citizen access to GP Data – updated RCGP online services toolkit

Following last week’s update, practices who are not yet ready to enable the change, are advised to engage with their local commissioner who can provide them with additional support and agree a way forward to enable the offer of prospective access to records for their patients safely and effectively.

To help GP practices prepare to provide online services, the RCGP has updated its GP online services toolkit as part of preparations for launching prospective record access as outlined in the general practice readiness checklist.

Guidance for coding unpaid carers using SNOMED CT including a new code

We recently published guidance and an accompanying letter to support the consistent use of SNOMED CT codes for recording unpaid carer status in primary care records. Unpaid carers make a huge difference to the lives of our patients. They frequently step in to reduce the burden on health and care services. NHS Digital will be collecting baseline information on the number of unpaid carers through a new indicator in the Core GP Contract GPES extract. The codes can be used in line with CQC guidance and good holistic practice, and to demonstrate delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan objectives. 

Collaborative practice: Working with patients and reducing demand in General Practice

The collaborative practice webinar explores a data driven approach that supports general practice to understand the nature of demand and to find new ways of organising that will not only reduce the number of repeat appointments, but will also meet the needs of patients.

The discussion explores the use of volunteer Practice Health Champions becoming part of a new extended team that tackles the problems that medicine alone cannot fix. Please note, you need to be a member of the Start with People FutureNHS workspace in order to watch the webinar.

Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) to send clinical correspondence electronically to General Practices in England using MESH/EMIS

From 14 November, GOSH is expanding digital correspondence to general practices using MESH/EMIS that allow correspondence to be filed directly into their electronic patient record systems. 

General Practices using MESH/EMIS who receive electronic correspondence in error or have problems viewing it, should notify GOSH using their GP practice nhs.net email address. If your practice is outside of England or is unable to receive electronic correspondence, you will continue to receive these through post.

Community pharmacy

Scheduled maintenance on MedicinesComplete

We would like to make you aware that between Saturday 12 - Sunday 13 November, between 7am - 7pm you may encounter brief periods of downtime, during which you might be unable to access MedicinesComplete. Please log any questions you may have online.

Community Pharmacy Early Diagnosis of Cancer Pilot

The NHS Long Term Plan set out an ambition that, by 2028, the proportion of cancers diagnosed at stages 1 and 2 should rise from 55% to 75% of cancer patients. Community pharmacies are well placed to make opportunistic referrals amongst higher risk populations and support NHS ambitions to reduce health inequalities.

The Community Pharmacy Early Diagnosis of Cancer Pilot will work with community pharmacy professionals to identify and refer people with red flag symptoms requiring urgent intervention into cancer pathways. Peninsula (Cornwall), Kent and Medway, Greater Manchester and Thames Valley are the Cancer Alliances that have been selected to support the implementation of this pilot. The Cancer Alliances will work with community pharmacy pilot sites across their geographies and provide system leadership throughout the pilot.

Optometry

Appropriate use of re-test codes webinars

NHS Business Services Authority (BSA) is running a series of webinars covering the appropriate use of re-test codes for General Ophthalmic Services (GOS) sight tests, with specific clinical examples of how the frequency of sight tests recalls should be applied for different types of GOS patents in England. Attendance provides one interactive CPD point.

Each event lasts an hour and the dates and times of upcoming sessions are:

• Monday 14 November at 7pm
• Monday 5 December at 12:30pm
• Tuesday 13 December at 8:30am

Book your place on one of the GOS webinars.

Primary care

Freedom to Speak Up Champions in primary care

New research into Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) is encouraging FTSU Guardians and FTSU Leads to get involved and share their experiences. It will look at the Guardian role, the challenges, barriers and successes of establishing FTSU in Primary Care.

It's important to hear from as many Guardians and Leads as possible. To express an interest in a confidential 121 conversation or join a small focus group (mid-November-January), please email NHS South, Central and West on scwcsu.ftsu@nhs.net who are carrying out the research on behalf of NHS England.

Dermatology referral optimisation guidance – a recommendation

New guidance sets out the key principles of referral optimisation for patients with skin conditions to strengthen the links between primary care healthcare professionals and specialists so that patients receive the right care from the right person, the first time.

Developed with key stakeholders and relevant professional bodies, including the Primary Care Dermatology Society, this recommends using pre-referral specialist advice and guidance, supported by digital images, as the front door to dermatology services. Integrated Care Boards may want to consider this guidance, working closely with primary care.

NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service Podcast Series: Pharmacy Technician Coffee Break Conversations

Pharmacy technicians are valued and important members of the primary care pharmacy workforce. In these short podcast episodes, pharmacy technicians talk about the variety of roles and opportunities for the profession, and the contribution they make to patient care. Topics discussed include leadership, pharmacy technician run clinics and phlebotomy services in primary care, and pharmacy technician support for structured medication reviews.

Topol Digital Fellowship - Cohort 4 applications open

Applications for Cohort 4 of the Topol Digital Fellowship are open from 1 November- 1 December 2022. The Topol Digital Fellowships provides health and social care professionals with time, support and training to lead digital health transformations and innovations in their organisations.

There have been some changes to the eligibility criteria and the fellowship is now open to non-clinical and health and social care candidates. For more information and to access the application form please visit the Topol Digital Fellowship website.  There are also three webinars taking place to support the application process for anyone eligible to apply.

Caring for yourself and others with compassion: e-learning now available

Following a hugely successful pilot, the ‘Handling difficult situations - Caring for yourself and others with compassion’ training is now available for all patient-facing NHS colleagues, including all patient-facing colleagues working across primary care, either in non-clinical or clinical roles.

The e-learning aims to upskill colleagues in how to handle difficult situations with compassion, using appropriate communication techniques and active listening skills, whilst focussing on how to keep yourself well if you feel affected by a situation.

NHS OpenAthens – unlocking knowledge and evidence

NHS OpenAthens provides free and secure access to a range of high-quality digital resources from the extensive NHS-funded collection, including e-books, journals, clinical decision support, study aids, databases and more. It provides access to a range of quality, trusted, evidence-based information for health and care staff throughout their career, at work, in practice, on call, while studying and at home.

NHS OpenAthens is available to a range of healthcare professionals, including social workers, dentists, community pharmacists and public health practitioners. Sign up or renew your NHS OpenAthens account online or watch our ‘how to register’ video.

Upcoming events and webinars

Various dates, November – December. Public participation online learning programme

Various dates, November. NHS Jobs engagement events and training sessions

16-17 November, Diabetes Professional Care conference

16 November, 10.30am – 12pm. Supporting our NHS people to reach out and help create a civil and respectful work culture

16 November, 2pm – 3pm. Wellbeing Wednesday: winter wellness

16 November, 7pm – 8pm. The future of primary care

24 November, 10am – 4pm. #StartWithPeople virtual event

29 November, 12.30pm – 2pm. Safe, Reliable Processes I and II

1 December, 2pm – 3pm. Fleetwood: connecting professional stakeholders to support the growth of the community

6 December, 1pm – 2pm. Integrated Care Systems – Finding Your Way: an ‘On the Couch’ conversation

14 December, 1pm –2.30pm. Introducing the Workforce Development Framework for Social Prescribing Link Workers (SPLWs)

Resources

Missed a recent webinar? You can view some recordings below:

• Best practice in annual health checks for people with a learning disability - on 19 October, around 300 colleagues working in primary care attended the Learning Disability and Autism Programme’s ‘Best Practice in Annual Health Checks for People with a Learning Disability’ webinar. Speakers from five PCNs showcased their work to successfully deliver annual health checks and health action plans.

• Best practice in annual health checks for people with a learning disability (October)
• Watch our series of General Practice webinars
• Watch our series of Primary Care Network webinars

Download our patient-facing materials:

• Staff respect
• General Practice team