Somerset LMC Weekly Update Friday 6th September 2019
Date sent: Friday 6 September 2019
Sent to all Somerset GPs and Practice Managers This and previous updates are available here
- GP earnings and expenses report
- Somerset Partnership Correspondence and CDTs
- GP workforce figures
- E-Mail Security
- Parenteral Nutrition Supply Problems
- Wellington Community Hospital
- SNOMED CT
- Top Tips
GP earnings and expenses report: NHS Digital has released the latest annual GP earnings and expenses report for 2017/18, which shows that the average taxable income for GPs in the UK increased by 2.5% (to £94,800) and expenses for contractor GPs increased by 7% that year. The report does not take into account hours worked or the reduced number of GPs. The report provides a breakdown of earnings and expenses for contractor GPs and salaried GPs for each of the nations and for different contract types (GMS, PMS, dispensing, non-dispensing). These figures suggest that years of repeated, real-terms pay cuts for GPs are starting to be reversed.
Somerset Partnership Correspondence and CDTs: As part of the Somerset CCG Digital Transformation programme, Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SomPar FT) are going to send more of their correspondence in electronic form to Practices, via MESH. From Monday 30 September 2019, all SomPar FT Community Services Discharges and Patient Consultation Notifications (Outpatient Clinic Letters) will be sent electronically.
Together, the increase in correspondence sent electronically will equate to around 20 documents per day for a Practice with a list size of 10,000.
Also on Monday 30 September 2019 the CDTS box, that currently delivers correspondence to Practices using Docman, will be decommissioned. Electronic correspondence previously received via CDTS will be delivered via MESH into the EMIS workflow instead.
Later in 2019, SomPar FT will move Somerset Talking Therapies and Minor Injury Unit (Emergency care discharge summary standard) correspondence to electronic format as well. As soon as volumes and dates are confirmed, we will let you know via GP Practice Bulletin.
Any questions, please contact the CCG Digital Team jess.brown@nhs.net.
GP workforce figures: The latest GP workforce figures have been published, which show: the number of fully qualified full-time equivalent GPs down 576 over the past year (-2%); in the last quarter, the number of FTE GPs had also fallen (in March, there were 28,697 GPs in England - a fall of 1.5% in three months); the number of FTE GP partners also decreased to 18,511 – down 5.3% from last year. Somerset is fortunate to be bucking this trend at least in part down to the hard work done by the GP in Somerset team and the GP+ careers scheme.
E-Mail Security: Practices will be pleased to hear that @nhs.net email account to @sompar.nhs.uk – is now secure, in line with @tst.nhs.uk.Link.
Parenteral Nutrition Supply Problems: NHSE & I has told the CCG about supply problems with parenteral nutrition (PN). PN is nationally but because of possible changes to prescriptions GP teams may receive requests for support ordering blood tests from patients switched from compounded PN to another form require increased biochemistry monitoring to ensure the PN is safe and effective. Governance arrangements over responsibility for results should be agreed between the GP and clinical nutrition support team at the home PN centre. The LMC will be happy to assist. Prescribing oral multivitamin and trace elements may also be necessary in switched patients and those who are thought to have sufficient functional bowel to absorb oral multivitamin and trace elements will be prescribed oral supplements. Prescribing of these supplements will mostly occur at trust level, however, for some GP teams may be asked to support with prescribing these supplements. The CCG’s Shaun Green will support practices in this.
Wellington Community Hospital: SomPar has recruited a new ward sister and so is reopening inpatient beds from 12th September.
SNOMED CT: The resilience team have produced a guide that converts SNOMED CT codes into READ CODE where possible for the Business Rule Set V42. This document was correct at the time of production. The guide is on the PSU are on the website you will need to log in to see it.
Top Tips...
The MMR catch up programme: the CQRS sign up states “aged 10 and 11 on 1 September 2018 and the SFE and the CQRS claim page states”10 or 11 years on or after 1 September 2018. The search dates for the cohort of patients are 1.9.07 – 31.3.10.
Kind Regards
Jill
Jill Hellens
Executive Director
Somerset LMC
Crown Medical Centre, Venture Way, Taunton, TA2 8QY
Tel: (01823) 331 428
Fax: (01823) 338 561
www.somersetlmc.co.uk
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