Primary Care Bulletin - 25 March 2022 (Issue 181)

Primary Care Bulletin - this week's round-up

25 March 2022

Dear colleagues,

This Wednesday (23 March) marked the two year anniversary of the first UK lockdown, in response to the coronavirus pandemic. We hope you were able to take some time throughout the day to pause, reflect and reset during what is still an incredibly busy period for primary care services.

Please take a look at our #LookingAfterYou offer, which provides confidential and bespoke coaching with one of our experienced coaches, if you are feeling overwhelmed, and take advantage of the a wealth of guidance and support available for all NHS colleagues, including health and wellbeing programmes on our website, should you need it.

Nikki and Ursula

Dr Nikki Kanani
GP and Medical Director for Primary Care,
Deputy SRO, COVID-19 Vaccination Deployment Programme
NHS England and NHS Improvement

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

COVID-19 updates

Spring Booster - Eligibility and timing

Eligible people (adults aged 75 years and over, residents in a care home for older adults, and individuals aged 12 years and over who are immunosuppressed) should not be turned away if they arrive as either a walk-in or via a booked appointment at a vaccine site provided they have reached the 91 days from prior booster dose.

As per the Green Book, the preference is for vaccination at around six months to maximise efficacy, however, if an individual attends either as a walk-in or via an NBS booked appointment they should receive their vaccination if they have reached 91 days from their prior booster dose. They should not be turned away.

Spring Booster – Amendment to UKHSA ‘Guide to the spring booster for those aged 75 years and older residents in care homes’

A previously published version of UKHSA’s ‘A guide to the spring booster for those aged 75 years and older residents in care homes’ has been amended to clarify that those who were severely immunosuppressed (as defined by JCVI) when they received their 1st and 2nd vaccination dose, receive a third primary dose before they receive a booster dose.

We issued operational guidance on 21 March to clinicians and vaccination teams with actions required, as well as a reminder of guidance on doses and eligibility for immunosuppressed and severely immunosuppressed people aged 12 years and above.

Vaccination Data Resolution Service posters now available

We are encouraging people registered with a GP practice in England to check that their vaccination records are up to date, and to contact the Vaccination Data Resolution Service (VDRS) or the Overseas Vaccines Validation Service if their record isn’t showing correctly.

It’s important that records are accurate so the NHS can invite the right people at the right time, if vaccinations are due. It might also mean a hassle-free journey for those planning to use an NHS COVID Pass to travel abroad.

VDRS posters are now available for use in public areas in GP practices and pharmacies. They direct people to check their COVID-19 vaccination record and call 119 to inform the NHS if one or more of their vaccinations are incorrect or missing. If your workplace receives questions on the VDRS service, you may wish to download the poster and display it on a digital screen, or alternatively print out an A4 version to post on your noticeboards.

COVID-19 Vaccination Programme – workspace

General practice

Re-registering suspended patient records

GP practices will soon be able to allow suspended patient health records to be electronically transferred on re-registration following an upgrade to the GP2GP system. Suspended patient records are those which belong to patients not currently registered with a GP in the UK, for example, if they’ve moved abroad.

The change is expected in May and it will mean suspended patient records will arrive via GP2GP rather than in paper format. You will still need to print and handle suspended records as usual until NHS England and NHS Improvement can receive and hold records electronically via the GP2GP system later this year.

Find out more information about the upgrade on FutureNHS. You will need to register if you don't have an account.

Friends and Family Test (FFT)

The requirement to submit the FFT was suspended across the NHS in March 2020 to free up resources to support practices during the pandemic. The FFT has now restarted across the NHS and the temporary suspension will come to an end in March 2022. The requirement for practices to report to commissioners regarding FFT returns will be reintroduced into the GP contract from 1 April 2022.

We are aware that it will take practices time to get fully up to speed submitting their FFT returns and with this in mind, commissioners should not be expecting FFT data to be submitted until Q2 in 22/23 onwards.

General practice - latest updates

Community pharmacy

Emergency declaration expiry

In March 2020 a declaration of emergency was made under the Pharmaceutical Services (Advanced and Enhanced Services and Emergency Declaration) Directions 2020, enabling flexibility in the provision of NHS pharmaceutical services to support community pharmacies during the pandemic.

These flexibilities included making temporary amendments to the pharmaceutical list and permitting temporary opening hours and closures during a specified period. Pharmacy contractors should note that the emergency declaration will not be extended further and will expire on 31 March 2022.

New NHS Profile Manager - update

The new NHS Profile Manager, which was due to launch in March, is still being developed to ensure the product is in the best shape possible. A new go live date will be announced soon and, in the meantime, we ask that information is kept up to date on your NHS website profile and Directory of Services Profile, especially over the Easter and May Bank Holidays.

Primary care

Improving population health on the frontline

Jane Waddington used to call the GP or 999 every day and spent every day in the front room until professionals in Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care System used a Population Health Management (PHM) approach to identify and reach out to her through social prescriber Victoria Harding. A new film shows Jane’s story and how using the PHM approach is changing people’s lives.

Read more on the PHM approach behind this project or Victoria’s personal account of helping Jane as a social prescriber. Health and care professionals can also join the PHM Academy to keep up-to-date with the latest PHM learning.

DHSC consultation on the Provider Selection Regime

The Provider Selection Regime will be a new set of rules replacing the existing procurement rules for arranging health care services in England, proposed for introduction as part of the Health and Care Bill. A preview of the proposals for the Provider Selection Regime has been now published and we encourage those involved in the commissioning and procurement of healthcare services to consider these in detail.

The Department for Health and Social Care are also running a supplementary consultation on the detail of the proposals, scheduled to close on Monday 28 March 2022. We would encourage commissioning bodies and providers to respond to ensure that your views are heard.

Op COURAGE: The Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Service and dedicated support

Following the launch of OP COURAGE last March, this is a reminder that patients who are veterans may be struggling at this time due to events in Ukraine. For those unfamiliar with the service, OP COURAGE is a specialist NHS mental health service designed to help serving personnel due to leave the military, reservists, veterans and their families. Patients can contact the service to make an appointment, or ask their GP, charity, family member or friend to do this. It is important that any patients who are veterans and struggling with their mental health have the option of referral to this service.

Key dates

31 March 2022 – Workforce data submission deadline for practices and PCNs

6 April 2022 – The NHS Parliamentary Awards 2022 – applications

Upcoming events and webinars

Various dates. Getting ready for patients to have access to their future data. For GPs / operational staff and primary care commissioners.

28 March, 10am – 12pm – 1pm. Helping health professionals put shared decision making into practice

30 March, 10am – 11am. Inspire, Engage, Motivate: Engaging patients as volunteers

30 March, 1.30pm – 2.30pm. Social Prescribing Data processes/evidence and impact

31 March, 1.pm - 2pm.Extended Access: supporting PCNs

31 March, 1.30pm - 3pm. Innovation in COVID-19 Vaccine Equalities practice and other areas of health

31 March, 2pm – 3pm. Online workshop: Creating the culture

Sessions starting April, Demand and Capacity series