Primary Care Bulletin - 13 October 2022 (Issue 209)

Primary Care Bulletin

13 October 2022

Dear colleagues,

Tomorrow (14 October) marks Allied Health Professions Day (#AHPsDay), an annual opportunity for AHPs to come together and celebrate being part of the AHP family. The day gives an opportunity to showcase the impact AHPs make to the delivery of high-quality care across the NHS and in primary care.

The general practice team has expanded significantly to include a wide range of healthcare professionals working together to support patients including AHPs, nurses, mental health practitioners, pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians as well as vital non-clinical roles and those in our reception teams.

The staff working in these roles are already delivering care for patients across the country, and we know it is important that patients understand what all members of the general practice team do and how they support their care. We have therefore produced a range of digital and print materials about the general practice team which are available to download from the Campaign Resource Centre. The materials aim to support general practice teams to share information about the different professionals working in their practice and explain how they enable patients to receive the most appropriate care as quickly as possible.

Please do download the materials and accompanying toolkit and consider how you can best use these to inform your patients about the team working in your practice. Further information on how to use the materials is also available on FutureNHS.

Lastly, if you missed us at Best Practice Show this week, you can catch the highlights from our sessions on our Primary Care Twitter channel.

Ursula and Kiren

Dr Ursula Montgomery
GP and Interim Director for Primary Care,
NHS England

Dr Kiren Collison
GP and Interim Medical Director for Primary Care, NHS England

Click here to access confidential coaching

Key updates including COVID-19

September flu payment data

We have been notified of issues impacting both adult and childhood seasonal flu September extracts, which could result in inaccurate flu payments. Further work is underway to fully investigate the issues and ascertain the actions required to remedy this.

In the interim, we are asking that GP practices do not declare their September flu achievement and commissioners do not yet approve those that have been declared. This action is to mitigate the need for manual reconciliation work once the matter has been resolved. Declarations and approvals may continue for all other services. Practices should liaise with their commissioner if there are concerns that a delay in payment may impact on practice finances.

General practice

‘Register with a GP surgery’ service now available via self-enrolment

Patients are now able to find practices offering the new ‘Register with a GP surgery’ service via the NHS Find a GP webpage. If your practice is interested in working with us while we enhance this service further, you can now self-enrol onto the service. Support is also available to participating practices via the onboarding team at england.register-gp-surgery.support@nhs.net.

Over 32,000 successful online submissions have been made to date by more than 100 practices and early testing has shown the service has reduced the application processing time for practice staff up to 15 minutes per registration, while offering patients more choice, convenience, and consistency in the way they register.

More information about the ‘Register with a GP Surgery’ service is available on our Resource Hub.

General Practice Nurses (GPNs) now included in the General Practice Fellowship Scheme

The eligibility criteria for the General Practice Fellowship Scheme has been expanded to include nurses new to general practice. The inclusion of new to general practice nurses will provide support to accelerate their clinical and professional development in primary care, further incentivise this career route and support those more experienced nurses to transition, ensuring these professionals feel valued and are best able to contribute to the wider workforce.

In addition, primary care will be provided access to staff who bring experience in a range of conditions which the portfolio offer would allow them to further develop. Nurses that are interested should discuss with their practice manager or their local training hub contact.

New patient health questionnaires (Ukraine and Russian translations) now available

GP practices can now download new patient health questionnaires with bi-lingual English/Ukrainian and English/Russian translations for people arriving in the UK from Ukraine, supporting assessment and management of their initial health needs at the point of GP registration. The questionnaires have been developed with Doctors of the World UK.

There is also an English/blank version available which commissioners and providers can adapt for other languages in supporting initial health needs assessment for other vulnerable migrants. Further translations may be added in due course.

Patient empowerment through online access to GP records

There are just 3 weeks until most patients with online accounts (such as through the NHS App or other patient online apps) will automatically be able to view new entries in their health records. In her blog, Dr Kiren Collison, GP and Interim Medical Director for Primary Care, discusses the changes taking place and how the experiences of GP practice staff from 16 early adopter sites can support others to manage the process as safely and effectively as possible.

Join us at our accelerating patient online access: TPP SystmOne demonstration and Q&A on the 19 October, for a demonstration of the functionality to support prospective (future) patient access to online GP health records from 1 November 2022. This session will cover how to ensure your system is configured correctly and how to redact (hide) information from patient view or withhold access where appropriate. There will also be Q&A session – please submit any questions ahead of the event to: england.nhseimplementation@nhs.net.

General practice - latest updates

Community pharmacy

PQS Guidance 22/23 published

Guidance for community pharmacy contractors on the Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS) 2022/23 has now been published. PQS commenced on 10 October 22 as part of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework agreement.

The guidance explains how contractors can meet the gateway and quality criteria. To qualify for the PQS 22/23 payment, contractors will have to make a declaration between 9:00 on 6 February 2023 and 23:59 on 3 March 2023 and meet all gateway criteria by the end of 31 March 2023.

Primary care

Updated staff respect materials available for all primary care settings

We know the damaging impact that violence, abuse, and harassment can have on people’s health and wellbeing, affecting both mental and physical health. Public-facing assets are available to download from the Campaign Resource Centre, featuring NHS staff working in a range of different NHS settings, including general practice, pharmacy, optometry and dentistry, carrying the message ‘We are here to help you. Thank you for treating us with respect’. They have been produced with staff, stakeholders, and patient groups to support NHS teams to reduce abuse and violence against staff.

This includes posters featuring groups of NHS staff and individuals, social media graphics, digital screen graphics for waiting rooms or staff room screens, and a poster template is also available for download that can be used to feature photography of teams, or individual members of staff.

We’d like to know how these materials are/will be used so that we can determine their effectiveness. Please email england.pccomms@nhs.net with any feedback.

Applications open for the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme

The NHS Clinical Entrepreneur programme is welcoming applications for cohort 7. Budding entrepreneurs can apply for this ground-breaking programme that is helping bring innovations into the NHS to improve patient care.

This year long programme is free and open to all NHS staff. The curriculum covers all aspects of setting up and running a small business or being an intrapreneur, including attracting investors, applying for funding, communications, and legal and regulatory considerations. Applications close on the 30 October 2022. To find out more and to apply visit the NHS CEP website or email the CEP team with any questions.

Speak Up Month Activity and Resources

We recently updated the Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) policy and guidance in partnership with the National Guardian Office (NGO). Along with the planning and reflection tool, these will assist both primary care and NHS Trusts in evidencing the assessment of their FTSU arrangements which must be complete by 31 January 2024.

A new set of resources are also available, including new videos and podcasts which focus on developing inclusive speak up cultures, reducing barriers to speaking up, and encouraging our ethnic minority colleagues, evening staff, staff with disabilities, part-time and facility staff to speak up and have their voices heard.

The support of Freedom to Speak Up Guardians is a key principle of the refreshed guidance and policy. FTSU Guardians can refresh their knowledge and confidence by completing their annual training by 31 October 2022. Please email england.ftsu-enquiries@nhs.net with any enquiries.

Appropriate prescribing of antipsychotic medication in dementia

A new toolkit aims to aid good practice and to help reduce variation in prescribing antipsychotic medication for dementia across England. It complements guidance available at a regional level, and provides information to address uses, risks and alternatives to antipsychotic medication, risk reduction in antipsychotic prescribing, and support for local systems to deliver best practice in antipsychotic prescribing and de-prescribing where appropriate. The toolkit is available on the London Clinical Network webpage.

Digital and data award winners delivering innovative care

As part of the Year of the Digital Profession NHS England has just announced the winners of the Digital and Data Awards 2022. One of the winners, Carly Ings, successfully managed the roll out of the Blood Pressure at Home scheme which has now been adopted by eleven primary care networks across Dorset. The work has enabled patients to better manage their long-term condition while ensuring the need for less frequent visits to general practice.

A dedicated webpage has further details on the awards and the Year of the Digital Profession, while the Digital Workforce FutureNHS page provides a detailed insight into all the winners and NHS England’s commitment to building a sustainable workforce of informatics experts in health and social care.

New digital inequalities research

New research provides an insight into the behaviours of people who do not use digital services in health and social care. It highlights opportunities to improve digital inclusion and narrow healthcare inequalities. More details are provided in this blog from Bola Akinwale, Deputy Director, National Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme.

Invitation to sign-up to Primary Care Appeals’ new monthly email updates

NHS Resolution’s Primary Care Appeals service is responsible for the prompt and fair resolution of disputes between primary care contractors and NHS England and/or integrated care boards (ICBs). It recently launched a monthly email, providing details of the service’s decisions in the previous calendar month and highlighting any new or updated guidance or resources. To sign-up please register your details and select the primary care contractor group that applies to you.

Personalised Care Institute (PCI) training

Over 46,000 PCI training courses have now been completed by clinicians. The free training delivered through the PCI helps to develop the professional skills and behaviours required to deliver shared decision making, personalised care and support planning and health coaching, as fundamental ways of working across health and care staff.

This progress takes the PCI closer to the Universal Personalised Care Action 5 that at least 75,000 clinicians will be trained by 2023/24. Take part in training today by visiting the Personalised Care Institute website.

Six new films on Population Health Management launched for community nurses

Six new short films will help community nurses use a Population Health Management (PHM) approach to improve patients’ care. The 15-minute practical learning videos will upskill community nurses across the country to use PHM and can be used as part of their revalidation. The videos about topics including what is PHM, how PHM helps tackle the Core50Plus5 priorities and how it can promote engagement will be useful for any health and care professionals interested in finding out more about PHM. Sign up to the PHM Academy if you’re not already a member.

Build your skills and confidence in system leadership to collaborate across health and care

The Foundations in System Leadership; collaborating for health and care programme is now available for enrolment. The programme is delivered online and is free to access for colleagues working in health, care, local authorities, and voluntary sector partnerships, who have a desire to improve the way they collaborate across organisational, professional, and hierarchical boundaries to design and deliver better health outcomes for the communities they serve. The programme will run for five weeks, and study time is flexible.

Upcoming events and webinars

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

19 October, 11am – 12pm. An introduction to working with people and communities

19 October, 12pm – 12,30pm. Accelerating patient online access: TPP SystmOne demonstration and Q&A

19 October, 3pm – 4.30pm. Best Practice in Annual Health Checks for People with a Learning Disability

19 October, 730pm – 8.45pm. Working with communities

20 October, 9.30am – 10.45am. Vaccination in pregnancy masterclass for health professionals: COVID-19, flu and pertussis

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

26 October, 2pm – 3pm. Inclusive HWB Community of Practice - supporting the HWB of ethnic minority staff

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

1 November, 9.30am – 4pm. 10 Steps to working with people and communities

1 November, 1pm – 2pm. Primary Care Discussions: Medication Safety in Primary Care