Somerset LMC Weekly Update Friday 16th July 2021
Date sent: Friday 16 July 2021
Sent to all Somerset GPs and Practice Managers This and previous updates are available here
- Face Masks in General Practice
- BMA GP Practice Face Mask Poster
- NHS Patients, Staff and Visitors Must Continue To Wear Face Coverings in Healthcare Settings
- A message from the CCG
- Covid phase 3 specification and Letter
- BMA statement on phase 3 specification
- Review of the England Medical Performers List Regulations (England)
- Guidance on the rollout of the medical examiner system into non-acute settings
- MyWay Diabetes platform – move to use of NHS login
- Annual GP Survey - 83% Rate Practices 'Good'
- Chloramphenicol Volte Face by MHRA
- Gentisone HC® (Gentamicin 0.3% & Hydrocortisone acetate 1%) Ear Drops
- Symptoms and Care of RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) in Children
- GP Recruitment event 15th September at Haselbury Mill, Nr Crewkerne
- The Importance of Workforce Planning – it’s wider than just your “ARRS”! October 6th 2021
- General Practice Job Vacancies
- And Finally...
Face Masks in General Practice: From Monday it will no longer be a legal requirement to wear a face mask in a public place. However the Prime Minister, CMO and Chief Scientific Adviser have all made clear that they expect people to wear a mask indoors in crowded settings with people they’d not normally mix with or, indeed, if otherwise requested to do so. Furthermore Common Law allows for any “landlord” to set terms and conditions for those entering their premises which could include wearing a face mask. The problem that will arise of course is when someone who chooses to exercise their prerogative not to wear a face covering as a point of principle comes into conflict with a practice’s contractual obligation to assess, advice and treat someone who is unwell or believes themselves to be unwell. The LMC is seeking CCG guidance but notes that IPC measures including face masks and distancing will remain in force after July 19th. We therefore expect that practices will be backed up if they take reasonable steps to cover their contractual obligations towards patients at the same time as exercising their duty of care to others including staff.
A message from the CCG: Why test twice a week by lateral flow if you’ve been fully vaccinated for Covid-19? Vaccination largely prevents serious illness and admission to hospital. But having both jabs does not give 100% protection from getting the infection or entirely eliminate the risk of transmission. This is why we are asking staff in General Practice to continue asymptomatic testing twice weekly with LFTs. This will help to protect practice staff and boost practice resilience as well as protecting the CEV in the wider community.
We thank you very much for you tolerance and patience at this difficult time.
Review of the England Medical Performers List Regulations (England): The Department of Health and Social Care has commissioned NHSE/I to review the England Medical Performers List Regulations in the context of the wider regulatory landscape in operation across England. This review has the potential to identify where regulatory requirements can be streamlined and simplified, while maintaining the high professional standards that ensure patient safety. Take the Survey here.
Guidance on the rollout of the medical examiner system into non-acute settings: GP practices recently received correspondence from NHS England and Improvement (NHSEI) about the rollout of the medical examiner system into non-acute settings. Useful new guidance is now available which sets out what the medical examiner system is, how it applies to general practice and what is/will be required of GPs (with thanks to Londonwide LMCs).
MyWay Diabetes platform – move to use of NHS login: My Way Digital Health (MWDH), who provide the MyWay Diabetes platform have confirmed they will begin using the NHS login service from 19 July 2021 to authenticate the identity of new users of the MyWay Diabetes platform.
NHS login makes it easier and quicker for patients to securely access digital health and care services with one username and password. It is a nationally run service by NHS Digital and endorsed and advocated by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.
For GP practices this will have the benefit of reducing administrative burden when onboarding patients to the MyWay platform.
Further detail may be found in this document from MWDH. If any questions or concerns, please contact the GP DPO team via somccg.GPDPO@nhs.net
Annual GP Survey - 83% Rate Practices 'Good': An increase on the previous year. To see a rise in overall patient satisfaction despite the challenging year the entire NHS has faced is incredibly positive. These results also clearly show how out of touch with the real views of patients the NHSEI letter earlier this year was and also contrasts with the self-selected reports to HealthWatch.
No one underestimates the problems but practice teams have been providing good patient care while doing the heavy lifting in the MVP, dealing with the massive NHS backlog and providing record numbers of appointments. However if we are to continue to meet the increasingly complex needs of our communities then general practice needs more staff, more resources and better premises. It is the only way to build back better on this feedback from patients.
Chloramphenicol Volte Face by MHRA: Following a review of the toxicological data and a calculation of daily exposure to boron from a typical dosing regimen, we have concluded that …Chloramphenicol eye drops can be safely administered to children aged 0 to 2 years where antibiotic eye drop treatment is indicated.
Gentisone HC® (Gentamicin 0.3% & Hydrocortisone acetate 1%) Ear Drops: They are out of stock until the end of October. Happily we hear that alternatives such as Otomize® ear spray, Otosporin® ear drops and Sofradex® ear/eye drops will remain available.
Symptoms and Care of RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) in Children: The CCG are developing some new pathways to better manage the infectious children that will be coming over the next few months , whilst trying to protect the primary care workforce from the increased workload . rather than attaching all the information available we have created a webpage here.
GP Recruitment event 15th September at Haselbury Mill, Nr Crewkerne: Our popular GP recruitment event will be held on the afternoon of Wednesday 15th September and will be held as a face to face meeting. This event will give GPs and GP Trainees the chance to meet up and talk to a wide variety of Somerset practices all in one place. Registration and participation is free. If you are GP/GP trainee looking for a vacancy in Somerset then please book onto the event here and Somerset practices can book their place to advertise their vacancy here.
The Importance of Workforce Planning – it’s wider than just your “ARRS”! October 6th 2021: Booking is now open for this day to be held at Taunton racecourse all being well, ( if not we will revert to virtual) it will be a mixture of presentations and group work, and is aimed at PCN clinical directors & managers, practice managers, operation managers, lead nurses and GP employers numbers are limited to 2 per practice so please do book early.
And Finally...
During lockdown Claire Winchester kept the whole team uplifted by sharing a Friday track, these have been saved to a playlist on spotify, we thought we would share with all so you can hear what your LMC were listening to, enjoy!
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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