Somerset LMC Weekly Update Friday 4th October 2019
Date sent: Friday 4 October 2019
Sent to all Somerset GPs and Practice Managers This and previous updates are available here
- GP indemnity update
- Protocol for Healthcare Professionals to get GP support out-of-hours
- GDPR/Data Protection Act 2018
- Guidance for registered medical practitioners on the Notification of Deaths Regs 2019
- Ranitidine
- Diabetic eye screening
- GP Career Plus and GP Resilience
- Fluoxetine
- AccuRx
GP indemnity update: The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has agreed the arrangements for the existing liabilities scheme with the MDDUS. This follows a similar agreement with the MPS. Regrettably the MDU, which unlike the other two, reduced its premiums for members before the advent of the state-backed CNSGP indemnity scheme in April, remains in legal dispute with DHSC over the matter.
Protocol for Healthcare Professionals to get GP support out-of-hours: Devon Doctors has a revised process for the direct line for HCPs requiring urgent GP support OOH from 6pm to 8am, at weekends and on bank holidays. Call 111 and follow the prompt asking you to ‘Press 9 to continue’ then press *7 to proceed – this needs to be done within 20 seconds or you may have to redial. You will be connected to a call handler who will take patient details and arrange for a clinician to call you back ASAP. Please note the *7 facility is intended solely for HCPs and in no circumstances should be shared with any patient seeking medical advice. Email ddooh.projects@nhs.net for more.
GDPR/Data Protection Act 2018: The Information Commissioner’s Office provides an excellent Live Chat facility where you can directly ask them about individual cases if you are unclear on who should have access to what. It has the advantage that the whole webchat is then sent as an email than can be attached to the patient record for future reference.
Guidance for registered medical practitioners on the Notification of Deaths Regs 2019: The LMC commentary on this recently published document can be found here.
Ranitidine: Colleagues will have seen the news items about Ranitidine and potential association with cancer. Shaun Green has provided the following: currently the CCG is not aware of any UK withdrawals. Ranitidine remains on the OTC market and in wholesalers. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has started a rapid review. A spokesperson for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said it was aware of the EMA review, but not of any specific information that would indicate that there was any risk to patients and was not currently initiating any product recalls. They are monitoring the issue and will continue to liaise with the EHA and will take appropriate action if necessary. We would not recommend any mass switching away from ranitidine at this point.
Diabetic eye screening: Last week we reported on the national pharmacy scheme to ask diabetics if they recall having foot or eye screening in the last 12 months. We are obliged to Dr Alex Bickerton for the following, “ It would helpful if the pharmacists asked patients to book themselves for eye screening by ringing 0300 1245611.” Practices can do the same.
GP Career Plus and GP Resilience: These two support schemes are being been offered to all GPs in Somerset. The GP Career Plus scheme is a series of twelve facilitated and financially supported peer support meetings over 6 months - please download the flyer for more info. The next group is starting in November and there are still places available. If you are interested in taking part, please contact Jill Hellens jill.hellens@nhs.net or Rachel Stark rachel.stark1@nhs.net. The GP Resilience scheme is a single support interview with a GP colleague, again there are places available please download a flyer here. If you are interested, please contact Sally Barnett on sphadmin@nhs.net for more details.
Fluoxetine:The DHSC has issued a Serious Shortage Protocol (SSP) for the Fluoxetine 10mg, 30mg and 40mg capsules which are currently out of stock. Fluoxetine 20mg capsules, tablets and oral solutions remain available and the SSP allows pharmacists to switch a prescription to another strength or pharmaceutical form. Patients can refuse the alternative but we hope few will.
AccuRx: Good news for all our practices using accuRx Chain SMS to message patients. We have spoken with accuRx and agreed to have custom templates unlocked for all the Somerset practices. Here are the steps for setting them up, For any practices not using Chain yet, please find some information and steps for set up below. AccuRx Chain SMS is a free patient messaging product that lets anyone in a GP practice send one-way messages straight from the consultation window (these messages are automatically saved to the patient record). It is EMIS and NHS Digital accredited, and is already being used by over 60% of EMIS practices across the country.
Practices can set themselves up with the steps below (it only takes 10 minutes):
- Enable everyone in EMAS manager (you only need to do this once!)
- Install accuRx on each computer (if you save the install file to a shared folder, it's slightly easier to access on other machines)
- Users can then make an account (by clicking 'Create your account') and start sending messages!
What if I already use MJOG/iPlato?
Chain is a different service to tools like MJOG & iPlato. While these focus on automated and batch messaging, Chain provides individual messaging with the ability to create/save templates and add NHS leaflets. A lot of practices use Chain alongside MJOG & iPlato and all texts are also saved to the patient's record in EMIS.
If you have any questions or would like any help getting set up, accuRx has a help centre and live in-office support chat at You can also contact Ben Spiro at ben.spiro@accurx.com or 0207 099 2279
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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