Primary Care Bulletin - this week's round-up

7 April 2022

Dear colleagues,

Testing for high-risk patients in the community eligible for Covid-19 treatments Following the Government’s announcement on changes to COVID-19 testing infrastructure, patients eligible for community COVID-19 antibody and antiviral treatments should check coronavirus symptoms using lateral flow tests, not a PCR test, and will receive lateral flow tests from UKHSA to keep at home.  

The community COVID treatments pathway will otherwise remain the same. If a patient tests positive, and has reported the result via gov.uk or 119, the NHS should contact them about treatment. If a patient is not contacted within 24 hours of testing positive, they should call their GP, 111, or specialist clinician, who can make an urgent referral. 

We are writing to eligible patients to provide further information on how to access COVID treatments. We have also written to GPs to explain the changes and their role in helping patients to access treatment. More information is on NHS England’s website.

COVID-19 testing in primary care

Following publication of NHS England’s Living with COVID-19 – testing update last week, information about staff and patient testing in primary care is available on FutureNHS.

Raj and Ursula

Ukraine crisis updates

Arrivals from Ukraine: advice for primary care

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) have published guidance to help primary care professionals assess and address the health needs of patients ordinarily resident in Ukraine who have arrived in the UK in response to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

Soon after individuals and their families arrive in the UK from Ukraine, they should be supported to register with a GP practice and attend a new patient consultation to assess their health and care needs. Doctors of the World have produced several resources including the Safe Surgeries Toolkit to support practices with new registrations. Migrants may have been exposed to trauma prior to, during and following their migration journey. This guidance describes how adopting a trauma informed approach will ensure individuals feel safe and supported.

Resources for Ukrainians arriving in the UK

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities have produced a welcome guide for Ukrainians arriving in the UK, as well as sponsor guidance and FAQs about the Homes for Ukraine initiative.

Doctors of the World have also produced some helpful posters explaining how the NHS works, in English, Russian and Ukrainian.

COVID-19 updates

COVID-19 vaccination roll out extends to 5–11-year-olds

On Monday, we announced that the NHS will begin to offer the COVID vaccine 5 to 11 year olds. Almost five million children in this age group are eligible for two doses of the vaccine following updated JCVI guidance, which recommended children can benefit from non-urgent offer of the vaccine.

COVID-19 pharmacy payments appeals

Following discussions between the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS Resolution’s Primary Care Appeals service, NHS Resolution has delegated authority to handle appeals relating to COVID-19 pharmacy payments with effect from 1 April 2022.

Community Pharmacy contractors were able to request payment of additional costs due to COVID-19 incurred between 1 March 2020 and 31 March 2021 for the delivery of NHS pharmaceutical services.

If payments were refused, paid in part, or there is a recovery of a previous payment underway, and when all other avenues of review are exhausted, a final right of appeal exists via: nhsr.appeals@nhs.net.

COVID-19 Vaccination Programme – workspace

General practice

Investment and Impact Fund 2022/23

Last week, we published final details of GP Contract arrangements for 2022/23. This included information about the Investment and Impact Fund (IIF), which is worth over £260 million in this financial year. Some of the details communicated to systems earlier in March about the IIF have since been updated, so we encourage you to consult the published guidance document for confirmation of final details of the scheme, along with advice and clinical resources which may be helpful. We have also produced a one-page summary for primary care teams.

PCN payment automation

We are working with a number of payment systems to automate all Network Contract DES-related payments to Primary Care Networks, and thus enable any legally constituted organisation to act as a PCN nominated payee. When implemented, this change will enable all Network Contract DES-related payments to be paid automatically via the PCSE Online system, irrespective of the identity of the nominated payee.   

Due to Covid-related pressures, completion of this project has been delayed from April 2022 to Autumn 2022. Please continue to maintain your existing processes for payments under the Network Contract DES to PCNs. If you have questions, please email england.gpcontracts@nhs.net.

Listeriosis – updated guidance for pregnant and vulnerable patients

UKHSA has updated their advice on high-risk foods for certain patients, where there is a specific concern about Listeria monocytogenes. NHS.UK has been updated the information for pregnant and vulnerable individuals to reflect the risk of listeriosis from smoked fish by amending the ‘foods to avoid in pregnancy’ webpage, as well as the webpage on ‘listeriosis’, which also includes details on specific actions people can take when handling, storing and preparing foods to reduce their risk of listeriosis.

Public encouraged to update their contact details in pilot scheme

We are running a pilot to improve the contact details held in the Personal Demographics Service (PDS) by identifying individuals who have missing or malformed email addresses or phone numbers and encouraging them to update this information.

These people will receive a text or email requesting they update their NHS account using the NHS App or NHS login. They could also receive a notification if their email or phone number does not match those recently used in other NHS services.

Enabling the public to update their own contact details in this way will further improve the information that we can provide to health care professionals, reducing the administrative burden for primary care. In the longer term this has the potential to provide more timely and cost-effective patient communications across the NHS.

Refreshed NHS App promotional leaflet available

The NHS App has now recorded over 26 million registrations, and can be used to book appointments, order repeat prescriptions and register organ donations. A refreshed leaflet is available aimed at patients, which includes a step-by-step guide on downloading and registering for the App. To request pre-printed leaflets to be sent to your practice email appambassadors@nhs.net.

Guidance for GP practices is also available to help you enable NHS App features in your GP IT systems, from creating appointments to activating secure non-urgent messaging.

General practice - latest updates

Dentistry

Contract arrangements for 2022/23

This week we wrote to confirm dental contract arrangements for 2022/23, which set out a further step we are taking to support practices. We have also announced additional support for Q4 2021/22, following through on our commitment to review the impact of Omicron.

Further information is available in our latest dentistry and oral health update.

Primary care

Reminder: NHS Parliamentary Awards – nominations closing soon

The NHS Parliamentary Awards provide an excellent opportunity for health and care organisations to engage with their local MPs, tell them about the work they do, and build or strengthen ongoing relationships. This pack is intended to support any individual, team or organisation who wishes to request an MP to submit a nomination for the NHS Parliamentary Awards.

Nominations close at midnight on 14 April. We recommend you get any nominations to your local MP(s) a week before the deadline closes to make sure they have time to review and submit it. If you have any questions, please email nhs.stakeholderengagement@nhs.net.

Virtual Wards

Virtual wards allow patients to get the care they need at home safely and conveniently, rather than being in hospital. A new film shows a virtual ward in action at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, along with case studies from Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust, Hull and East Riding City Health Care Partnership CIC and Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust showing how clinicians are supporting people in their own homes. To learn more about virtual wards, try this short eLearning or visit the webpage for the latest guidance and publications. 

Two-week wait skin cancer pathway

The two-week wait skin cancer pathway, supported by the British Association of Dermatologists, outlines innovative approaches to support early diagnosis as part of the recovery plan. Building on local experience it details new models of service delivery to consider, including a new virtual pathway using digital images (teledermatology) and face-to-face ‘spot clinics’, helping to reduce unnecessary hospital attendances whilst ensuring face-to-face consultations continue to be available for those patients who need them.

Supporting resources, including a teledermatology roadmap and patient and clinician videos are available on the FutureNHS Outpatient Transformation pages.

Social prescribing champions programme – now open for applications

We are working with the National Academy for Social Prescribing to deliver a Social Prescribing Champion Programme. The programme is open to clinical and non-clinical NHS colleagues who are passionate about raising the profile of social prescribing and sharing good practice. For more information and to apply, visit the NASP website – closing date 14 August.

Key dates

30 April 2022 – Workforce data submission deadline for PCNs and practices  

Upcoming events and webinars

Sessions starting April, Demand and Capacity series

Sessions include a new module exploring ways to manage failure demand through practice-based examples.   

Sessions April – July. Public Participation Online Learning Programme 

12 April, 1pm – 2pm. Personal health budget lunch and learn

13 April, 1pm – 2.30pm. Children and young people’s social prescribing approaches 

13 April, 7pm - 7.55pm. NHS Community Pharmacy Blood  Pressure Check Service webinar - how to run the Advanced Service and latest update 

26 April, 1pm – 2pm. What are Decision Support Tools and how you use them in your practice 

27 April, 1.30pm – 2.30pm. SPLW Webinar Series: Supporting refugees 

28 April, 7pm – 8pm. Pharmacy team experience with CPCS 

11- 12 May. NHS Big Conversation for Improvement 

Link of the week

PODCAST: ICS Incoming…Primary Care and Community Trusts