All Somerset GPs and Practice Managers This and previous updates can be found here
A cup of tea and biscuit needed, its a long one this week, we have tried to reduce and include as many links as possible
Somerset GP Board
Early Help Assessment Form again
Vaccs and Imms Guidance 2018/19...
All Somerset GPs and Practice Managers This and previous updates can be found here
Apologies for war and peace this week!
Gongs Galore! the latest LMC Chairmans Blog
PMS Contract
Focus on Funding and support for general practice
Somerset Goes to...
All Somerset GPs and Practice Managers This and previous updates can be read here
LARC Contract
Advice for NHS General Practitioners on Military Veterans attending with concerns on use of Mefloquine
Capita
BMJ Careers Somerset LMC Members Benefits Package
Letter...
Practices may use 084 numbers to help provide a good service to their patients, provided that the cost to their patients is guaranteed to be no more than a standard local call.
If your practice uses an 084 number you must demonstrate to the Area Team that these calls are guaranteed not to cost...
Health professionals often receive requests from people who wish to access health records. These requests can include requests from patients to view or obtain copies of their own health record using GDPR subject access request rights or the requests might come from third parties, such as the...
'if you are entitled to it here, then you can get it there.'
Introduction
The EU Directive on cross-border healthcare1 came into effect in England and Wales on 25 October 20132. In essence the Directive allows patients in those jurisdictions the right to seek access to treatment in another...
Original Document: Building on the Five Year Forward View
LMC Commentary April 2015
This seems to be some sort of reiteration of NHSE's supposed independence just before the general election. It contains little of actual substance being a 'high level' document but rather restates the FYFV...
NHS England has published its business plan for 2015/16, setting out its priorities for the coming year.
Building the NHS of the Five year Forward View - NHS England Business Plan 2015/16,, describes the organisation's headline goals and priorities to ensure both high quality care for the...
NHS England, HEE, RCGP and the BMA GPs committee (GPC) are working closely together to ensure that we have a skilled, trained and motivated workforce in general practice. We have jointly produced a ten point action plan to address immediate issues, and to take the initial steps in building the...
The December 1997 Caldicott Report identified weaknesses in the way parts of NHS handled confidential patient data. The report made sixteen recommendations,one of which was the appointment of Caldicott guardians, members of staff with a responsibility to ensure patient data is kept secure. It...
Should GP practices consider forming networks?
Are all practices really faced with the prospect of forming larger organisations in order to survive?
If you are a GP asking these questions this guidance sets out:
The current and forthcoming pressures facing primary care
What practices should...
All clinicians who performed cervical cytology should ensure they are up to date and maintain their skills and this is for the individual to evaluate using the inadequate rate as a guide but should not be simply decided by the total number of smears taking in any given period of...
NHS Planning Guidance 2016/17-2020/21
1. The Spending Review provided the NHS in England with a credible basis on which to
accomplish three interdependent and essential tasks: first, to implement the Five Year
Forward View; second, to restore and maintain financial balance; and third, to...
Original Document: Response to the Supreme Court Judgment/ Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards
LMC Commentary December 2015
This important document, The Department of Health Guidance: Response to the Supreme Court Judgement/Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), refers to a judgement given in...
DOLS CONTACT DETAILS: (Please do not call Somerset LMC)
Somerset County Council
dolsinformation@somerset.gov.uk this is a constantly monitored mail box Monday to Friday.
DoLS administrators
Sarah Baker 01278 447702
Melissa Chivers 01278 449838
SCC Mental Capacity Act and DoLS...
Original Document
is an encouraging document in many ways but does draw stark contrasts with what has been achieved in a relatively small health and social care system over a long time, compared with what STPs and vanguards are trying to do here on a vast scale and very short timescale. The...
GMC and NMC publish guidance encouraging openness and honesty in healthcare.
When things go wrong patients should expect a face to face explanation and apology from doctors, nurses and midwives according to new guidance from the General Medical Council (GMC) and the Nursing and Midwifery...
The GPC are aware that in some areas, some hospital doctors have been instructing GPs to find out the test results which the hospital had ordered. Both the General Practitioner Committee and the Consultants Committee of the BMA agree this practice is potentially unsafe, and that the ultimate...
In November 2014 GPC was informed that the Department of Health's NHS Visitor and Migrant Cost Recovery Programme Team had taken the decision to deprioritise extending and amending charging in primary care in order to focus on delivering existing commitments in Phases 1-3 of the Programme...
Med1web forms and The European Medical Directory
A number of GPs have in the past completed and signed a Med1web form from NovaChannel AG under the misapprehension that the form offered a free listings service in the European Medical Directory (TEMDI). However, in the small print there was a...
Following the introduction of the Care Certificate in April 2015 the GPC have produced a focus on document outlining the key details and the GPC position
The GPC We have gone through the document in detail, and the BMA policy directorate has produced a 'Focus on the GP Forward view' and a Funding Analysis
Focus on
Annex 1: Funding analysis of the GP Forward View
The Five Year Forward View of October 2014 set out several new care models which aim to
'dissolve traditional boundaries' between general practice, community providers, hospitals,
health and social care and mental health services. The document proposed creating a
number of major new care...
This short paper provides an overview and brief analysis of the Rt. Hon. Jeremy Hunt's 'New Deal for General Practice', set out in a speech delivered on 19 June 2015.Ostensibly the Health Secretary's speech was intended to set out 'the first steps in a new deal for general practice', though many...
Our thanks to Londonwide LMCs' and LMC Law for this advice to practices
GP practices are public bodies for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and are subject to its requirements. This means that practices are advised to respond within 20 days, failing which they may be...
The requirement to submit Friends and Family Test (FFT) data was suspended across the NHS in March 2020 and was reintroduced into the GP Contract from 1st April 2022. However, practices will only be required to submit data from Q2 in 22/23 onwards and commissioners will be made aware of...
Original Document The Future of Primary Care Creating teams for Tomorrow
A report by the Primary Care Workforce Commission. July 2015.
This document has been received by Health Education England which 'will now look closely the [38] recommendations...' it contains.
There is the by now usual...
Original Document
Anyone hoping that the Health Select Committee under its exGP chairman would throw a spanner into government health policy is in for a disappointment reading this document which the government has welcomed. The introduction pays the customary lip service to '...general...
The attached guidance provides information about the different legal structures that can be used by GP networks, including an overview of the pros and cons of each structure.
GPC have put together a a step-by-step guide for practices considering forming a network
Original Report
LMC Commentary
This report was published at the end of April and made two headlines: one was that the number of GPs had, in fact, fallen slightly last year and so work towards hitting the “5000 more doctors working in general practice by 2020” target was not going well; the...
The BMA supports self care for patients and have published guidance, FAQs and a blog to highlight the importance of self care. The guidance provides some easy tips for patients on how best to self care such as:
1.Colds, flu and most sore throats do not need antibiotics and can be treated...
It's Your Practice has been produced as part of the RCGP's aim to build stronger relationships between patients and their doctors and encourage the involvement and inclusion of patients in their own care.The guide provides helpful information on all aspects of using GP services: from finding and...
TheNHS five year forward view (Forward View), published by NHS England and other national NHS bodies (2014), sets out a shared view on how services need to change and what models of care will be required in the future. Its key arguments are that much more attention should be given to prevention...
General practices in England are now required to offer patients online access to summary information from their records raising issues about confidentiality and record accuracy.
According to the published figures, 21% of patients in England were able to access their medical records online in...
National Bereavement Care Pathway
A tool kit that has been developed to enable healthcare professionals (GPs, Practice nurses, HCAs, Receptionists/Secretaries) to use and deliver the pathway effectively in the primary care setting. It explains about the National Bereavement Care Pathway and the...
Are you considering a return to NHS General Practice after a break of 2+ years? Or is your practice interested in employing a GP without prior NHS experience?
If so you may have noticed recent media coverage regarding the new National Induction and Refresher (I&R) scheme. The I&R scheme...
A new education and career framework for nurses has been launched by Health Education England to view please follow the below link.
Link to PDF version
Overseas visitors who need healthcare while in England will soon be charged differently for using the NHS as part of efforts to recoup £500 million a year by 2017 to 2018.
From April, the way the NHS charges these visitors is being changed so that it does not lose out on income from migrants,...
This discussion paper has been produced by the RCGP
Overview
There is clearly a problem in the way that General Practice is resourced. The Put Patients First -Back General Practice campaign has articulated the challenges we face from decreasing resources at a time of increasing workload in...
It is intended that this document will serve to inform LMCs about the current position of Physician Associates (PAs) in the UK and the implications for General Practice.
The revised Code and Retention Schedule was launched in July 2016 and the IGA has committed to at least an annual review cycle. Feedback will be important evidence to support the first review in 2017.
See full guidance including the retention schedule
Offsite Storage of Medical Records
The...
This report is the culmination of a major project launched over a year ago which has included: regional GP consultation events hosted by LMCs; a regional event specifically targeted at sessional and trainee GPs; patient deliberative events; and the major GP survey undertaken in the early months...
Revalidation was introduced in December 2012. The RCGP has approved a new Guide to Supporting Information for Appraisal and Revalidation (March 2016) that aims to reduce inconsistencies in interpretation and simplify and streamline the recommendations. The full updated guidance can be found on...
This has been designed to help support practices to ensure they have a framework and practice system in place within which to manage PoCT safely.
Somerset ICB Point of Care Testing Policy
Beyond the immediate clinical need of a patient - if a patient is declared dead on the premises how should you proceed?
If the death is sudden and unexpected you will need to contact the coroner via the police. The police will arrange for transport of the body from your site - the coroner may...
Original Document
This is a typically well-written and closely argued King's Fund report which elegantly sets out the problems that have increasingly beset general practice over recent years. It actually draws on evidence from practitioners and staff working in four case study sites in...
