Somerset LMC Weekly Update Friday 28th August 2020
Date sent: Friday 28 August 2020
Sent to all Somerset GPs and Practice Managers This and previous updates are available here
SGPET weekly update with all online education can be found here
- Implementing the 2020/21 GP Contract
- 2019/20 QOF Results
- Infection Prevention & Control (IPC) Including Flu Clinics
- Applying for Renewing a driving licence with a medical condition - From the DVLA Website
- Yeovil Radiology GP Reports July
- Priadel - Something to look forward to
- GP Trainees exit interview
- Top Tips
- And Finally...
Implementing the 2020/21 GP Contract: Following changes to the General Medical Services (GMS) contract for 2020/21, this document sets out the approach to the funding changes that will apply to Personal Medical Services (PMS) and Alternative Provider Medical Services (APMS) contracts.
2019/20 QOF Results: The headline achievement for Somerset is 96.13% which is better than the national average of 95.51%. The CCG’s Michael Bainbridge said, “This is an excellent result and better than had been hoped. It means that we have delivered our target for ‘primary care in Somerset to perform better than national average on any relevant measure’. Most importantly it demonstrates a high level of clinical care for the people of Somerset. It will also be a great help to secondary users of QOF data including CQC. We are grateful to colleagues in practice for their hard work in achieving this result.”
Infection Prevention & Control (IPC) Including Flu Clinics: Public Health England published Guidance for the remobilisation of services within health and care settings. last week. It re-emphasised that where possible services should continue to use virtual consultations and classifies general practice physical consultations as medium risk. PPE should therefore continue to be worn for all face-to-face contacts. For vaccination clinics, where contact with individuals is minimal, single use PPE for each jab is not necessary but staff giving vaccinations must use hand hygiene between patients and wear a face mask for the whole session. As ever, more guidance is promised “shortly.”
Applying for Renewing a driving licence with a medical condition - From the DVLA Website: “If you have a health condition requiring further information or examinations, there are likely to be delays before NHS doctors, consultants or opticians are able to provide us with the information we need to be able to make a licensing decision. Providing you have a current driving licence and you have not been told by your doctor or optician that you should not drive, you will be able to drive while DVLA is considering your application. Road safety is our top priority and by law, all drivers must meet certain minimum medical standards and drivers must ensure they are medically fit to drive. All drivers must notify DVLA of the onset or worsening of a medical condition. Check if a health condition affects your driving.”
Unfortunately the accompanying leaflet for patients on Section 88 - the provision that has allowed for CV-19 delays in re-issuing licences until 31st August - mentions “discussing with your GP” umpteen times. BMA advice is to push back against this unfunded, non contractual work (unless you have good reason to advise someone NOT to drive) and to send us examples to help with negotiations with the DVLA.
Yeovil Radiology GP Reports July: Between 4 - 29 July 2020 the e-system that sends radiological reports directly into EMIS system was not fully operational. YDH was told about it by several practices. As a result of this glitch, the Diagnostic Services Manager, Director of Primary Care and the Managing Director of Symphony Healthcare Services decided that electronically resending all of the reports from this period would be safest. Therefore all reports issued through the Hospital Electronic System were again sent to the location that receives clinical discharge summaries. This was done between 6 -8 August. The problem has now been fixed and Radiology are sending all reports through both systems. If practices have checked both but still cannot see a report then email radiology.secretaries@ydh.nhs.uk for you a copy.
Priadel - Something to look forward to: Priadel® (lithium carbonate) 200mg and 400mg MR tablets are being discontinued in the UK and remaining supplies are expected to be exhausted by April 2021. Other brands are available (Camcolit® and Liskonum®) but clinical guidance advises that patients must be maintained on the same brand to ensure that a consistent serum lithium level is maintained. By a strange coincidence the makers of Priadel also own Camcolit which, by another pure chance, is considerably more expensive. The switching of brands necessitated by this SDA will require individualised determination of dose, close monitoring of serum lithium levels and vigilance for relapse and tolerability in all cases. Colleagues will no doubt be looking to psychiatric teams for direction but CCG advice is to take a long view.
GP Trainees exit interviews: Delivered some good news this week from the Somerset ST3s with more deciding to stay in Somerset after qualifying and a higher percentage wishing to take on partnerships, their highest priority is a good work life balance.
Top Tips
Can be found here. New items this week are:
- Cytology - Things to consider
And Finally...
New Restrictions on Stimulant Laxatives About Overuse: The MHRA is to add extra label warnings to new packs of stimulant laxatives to make it clear that they do not help weight loss and can lead to damage to the gut. Patients should be encouraged to use alternatives, such as diet and lifestyle changes, to lose weight or switch to other products such as bulk laxatives for bona fide constipation.
Drug Shortages: DHSC has issued a Medicines Supply Notification on Normacol granules which will be out of stock until mid-September. Happily other laxatives are still available to clear the backlog.
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
Follow us on Twitter
Download the App
General Practice in Somerset Great Place Great Potential
We have updated our privacy policies on both the Somerset LMC and Somerset GP Education trust websites.
