Somerset LMC Weekly Update Friday 7th February 2020
Date sent: Friday 7 February 2020
Sent to all Somerset GPs and Practice Managers This and previous updates are available here
- BMA GP England committee agrees GP contract package with focus on recruitment and retention of workforce
- PCSE Online performers list Portal
- Pathology Consumable supplies to Nursing Homes
- Pension forms - a plea from the Locum Agency
- GP appointments data
- Coronavirus
- Ondansetron in Hyperemesis - Edited from The MHRA
BMA GP England committee has agreed GP contract package with focus on recruitment and retention of workforce: The BMA’s GP England (GPCE) committee has voted to accept a package of changes to the GP contract for 2020-21, which includes funding to attract more doctors to take up partnership roles and expand the practice team seeing patients in surgeries.
Full detail here and BMA Press release can be found here.
PCSE Online performers list Portal: Practices should have received a recorded delivery letter addressed to the CQC registered manager on the 4th November 2019 laying out instructions on how to access the new online performers list portal, individual GPs will also have received a personal e mail with log in details at the same time (please check your junk folder) if you are unable to trace this letter the information on how to obtain a duplicate can be found here.
Pathology Consumable supplies to Nursing Homes: We are aware that some nursing homes are writing to practices stating that SPS will no longer supply their consumables and that these will now have to be supplied by the GP surgery for each individual patient, this is clearly unworkable and following discussions with SPS and the CCG, SPS has proposed an Interim solution for 3 months whilst the many wider questions which have emerged regarding Nursing Home business and supplies are addressed, from SPS below…
- SPS will reinstate supplies to Nursing Homes i.e. providing minimum supplies to Nursing Homes for (suggest 3 months), to allow CCG/LMC to review process/governance around consumables/ supplies/services to Nursing Homes.
- SPS will require Pathology consumables to be ordered by Nursing Homes via email only i.e. via spsstores@tst.nhs.uk
- Nursing Homes must supply details of any associated GP practices on any order to confirm that testing undertaken using these consumables is on behalf of said GP Practice i.e. a control measure which would not impact on GP practices unless we needed to raise a concern re supply demand.
- As Fax use is suspended as of 1/4/20. This process fits with that requirement and also provides an audit trail for any Pathology consumable request
Pension forms - a plea from the Locum Agency: Jayne at Taunton Locum agency is experiencing some problems with scanned documents that need to be submitted to Capita for Locums, please could practices ensure that scanned images are:
- Clear (often too dark or with little contract or distorted image )
- Centred and do not have lines running through the image
- Image needs to be portrait not Landscape
- Scanned and saved as a PDF and not a TIF
- Ensure all practice details are included, either a stamp or signature and EA code
GP appointments data: NHS Digital has published their latest GP appointments data , the figures show that practices are managing increased demand. The number of appointments delivered in practices has increased by more than 3 million in 2019.
Coronavirus: The LMC was involved in the first PIRT call (Pandemic Incident Response Team) related to coronavirus yesterday. As of yesterday, 468 patients had been tested across the UK (5 in Somerset) of which 3 have been positive (none locally). Practices should have received information to display in public areas but also relevant guidance and information for staff dealing with potential cases and queries from patients.
Ondansetron in Hyperemesis - Edited from The MHRA: “Ondansetron (Zofran) is authorised for the management of nausea and vomiting induced by chemotherapy, radiotherapy and after surgery. Animal studies do not indicate direct or indirect harmful effects with respect to reproductive toxicity. There is a growing body of evidence on the use of ondansetron in pregnancy that does not suggest an increase in the risk of overall congenital malformations but recent epidemiological studies report a small increased risk of orofacial malformations in early pregnancy. Key evidence was in an observational study of 1.8 million pregnancies in the USA of which 88,467 (4.9%) were exposed to oral ondansetron during the first trimester ondansetron use was associated with an additional 3 oral clefts per 10,000 births (14 cases per 10,000 births versus 11 cases). Outside authorised indications, ondansetron is also used second line for treating women with hyperemesis gravidarum, a severe and potentially life-threatening condition. If a physician considers that a licensed treatment is not suitable or sufficient alone and there is a special clinical need to use ondansetron, then this decision should be made in consultation with the patient after she has been fully informed of the potential benefits and risks.”
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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