Somerset LMC Weekly Update Friday 28th April 2023
Date sent: Friday 28 April 2023
Sent to all Somerset GPs and Practice Managers This and previous updates are available here
- MD Soundbites!
- Industrial Action
- ADHD Referral Pathway Change
- General Practice Indemnity
- Freedom to Speak Up Guardian
- Transforming Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Prevention in Somerset
- New Musculoskeletal Personalised Self-Management Tool Launches Across Somerset
- School Exemption Letter
- SFT Rapid Access Chest Pain Referral Criteria
- Somerset Moves Newsletter
- Somerset’s Discrimination and Harassment Survey Webinar
- Succession/Retirement Planning: What to do with your premises?
- Safe Working in General Practice (BMA)
- Measurement of Workload - Job Vacancies
Industrial Action: GPC England held an emergency meeting on 27 April 2023, where the committee voted to ballot GPs working in England for industrial action if disastrous changes to the GP contract, which could threaten patient safety, are not renegotiated in the coming months. The press release is worth a read.
ADHD Referral Pathway Change: The LMC has raised concerns about the current ADHD referral form with the team. We are delighted to announce that from 3rd May 2023, the service will not require an ADHD referral form. Referrals can be made via a referral letter, and as much information as possible is encouraged. The team will then send a patient questionnaire to the patient which will be required to be returned by the patient in a timely manner directly to the ADHD team for them to accept and process the referral. Failure of the patient to complete the form will result in the referral being closed.
General Practice Indemnity: NHS resolutions has published new guidance regards General Practice Indemnity. The Clinical Negligence Scheme for General Practice (CNSGP) provides cover for NHS general practice clinical negligence liabilities arising from incidents occurring on or after 1 April 2019. The documents are very comprehensive but if you only have 5 mins just watch the video (lasts just over 2 mins) and the flowchart.
Flowchart
Scheme Scope for the CNSGP & ELSGP Indemnity Schemes
When does CNSGP cover apply?
Freedom to Speak Up Guardian: All practices have a requirement to have a Freedom to Speak Up policy, along with a named Freedom to Speak Up Guardian. A new updated Freedom to Speak Up Policy for the NHS has now been published by NHS England. This should be adapted and personalised by practices for your individual organisation. The National Guardian’s office also provides free training for Freedom to Speak up Guardians, links to register can be found on their website. Practices will be aware that they can include the Medical Director of the LMC within their policy as a Freedom to Speak up Guardian should they choose to do so.
Transforming Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Prevention in Somerset: This resource provides good summary that can be used for the management of hypertension. It highlights the importance of good management and is a document that could be useful for hypertension leads in your practice. Workload is a challenge for all – section 5 details how practices can work pro-actively with their local pharmacies. 52 pharmacies have signed up for this across the county. Within section 7.2 there are good patient links to consider.
New Musculoskeletal Personalised Self-Management Tool Launches Across Somerset: GetUBetter provides evidence based digital self-management support for all common MSK conditions and is being launched in Somerset. West Mendip PCN, West Somerset PCN and North Sedgemoor PCN have agreed to be early adopters of the tool and are working towards deployment of the App. Further detail can be found here and a virtual Demo of the Tool will be held on the following dates (link to join the meetings can be found here).
Tuesday 16th May @ 13:00
Wednesday 17th May @ 13:00
Thursday 18th May @ 13:00
Tuesday 23rd May @ 13:00
Wednesday 24th May @ 13:00
Thursday 25th May @ 13:00
School Exemption Letter: Practices may find this template useful for various requests received from schools, our thanks to Nottinghamshire LMC as the originator of the text, it can also be found on the website here.
SFT Rapid Access Chest Pain Referral Criteria: This link provides a summary of the most recent current referral criteria to RACP clinic.
Somerset’s Discrimination and Harassment Survey Webinar: On Wednesday 17th May 2023 1-1.45pm, Jon Dolman, Taku Chinomona and Catherine Ievers will present a webinar on the findings of Somerset’s Discrimination and Harassment Survey carried out by Somerset Training Hub and LMC in September 2022. After the presentation, we would like to hear your thoughts on what differences we could all make to promote equality and support for our general practice workforce. To register please book here.
Succession/Retirement Planning: What to do with your premises?: Have you ever considered whether a sale and leaseback transaction would resolve your succession planning issues? Or if putting a lease in place between the retired GP’s and the existing partnership would be a better option? This webinar on Tuesday 13th June 1-2pm will be performed by an expert speaker in the field of primary care who is involved with supporting practices with all their premises related issues nationwide. They will explore the main premises options to consider when beginning GP practice succession and retirement planning; how to avoid common costly pitfalls and how a robust succession plan can even help alleviate partnership recruitment problems. When you consider a significant proportion of GP Partners are within five years of the average retirement age of 58, putting a succession plan in place has never been so important. It is FREE to attend over MS Teams with BW Healthcare Surveyors and will also provide the audience with an opportunity for Q&As. Book your place here.
Safe Working in General Practice (BMA) – Top Tips
Measurement of Workload: NHSE (NHS England) measures GP workload based on appointment data. This gives an incomplete picture of GP activity and fails to reflect the huge number of non-appointment patient contacts.
We encourage all practices to account for patient contacts within their appointment books as a way of recording this workload. When accounting for workload, work performed in relation to repeat prescriptions and documents can be counted separately to direct patient contact. This data is not currently collected by NHSE.
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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