Somerset LMC Weekly Update Friday 26th May 2023
Date sent: Friday 26 May 2023
Sent to all Somerset GPs and Practice Managers This and previous updates are available here
- MD Soundbites!
- Update to COVID Medicines Pathway
- Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care - Key Points for GPs!
- Results of the Somerset Discrimination and Harassment Survey
- COPD in Bridgwater
- Add-on Tests and Sample Stability
- Succession/Retirement Planning: What to do with your premises?
- Weight Management Referrals
- Post Mortem Reports
- Somerset New to Practice General Practice Fellowship Programme for Newly Qualified GPs
- Practices Sought for Medical Students
- Safe Working in General Practice (BMA)
- Measurement of Workload - Job Vacancies
Update to COVID Medicines Pathway: The LMC has received questions about an email from the ICB medicines management team including a pathway for the prescribing of antivirals that involves GP and 111 (HUC). Somerset LMC have NOT agreed this pathway and our position (endorsed by the GPC on advice of NHSE) is that this is not core general practice. We are in urgent discussions regarding this but for now we advise NO CHANGE to current management of these patients.
Results of the Somerset Discrimination and Harassment Survey: We would like to draw your attention to the results of ‘Somerset’s General Practice Discrimination Survey’ which was a survey conducted jointly by Somerset LMC and Training Hub. Thank you to everyone that took part, we had a higher than usual number of respondents.
Headline results include:
- Nearly 15% of respondents reported discrimination against them in the last 12 months.
- Just under 10% of people do not feel confident raising issues in their workplace.
- Of the occasions where concerns were raised, people did not feel they were dealt with well.
For all of us in Somerset’s general practice, this survey offers an opportunity to pause and reflect on what we could all do to make a difference for everyone. Additional information on the results is available on the PowerPoint Presentation here. If you have further comments/feedback on this please do contact us at somersetlmc.office@nhs.net.
COPD in Bridgwater: Reaching out and diagnosing COPD to help those affected can be challenging. Some parts of our county have significantly higher rates of COPD than the national average. Bridgwater for example has a prevalence of 2.3% compared to a national prevalence of 1.3%. Healthwatch are trying to help us understand how we can improve the diagnosis of this condition and reduce our health inequalities. The poster is aimed to seek support for this project in Bridgwater – please consider sharing it with your staff and patients so we can better understand how we can identify and support patients affected by COPD.
Add-on Tests and Sample Stability: A few weeks ago we have been reminded that some add-on blood tests have a much shorter time frame due to the instability of the analyte. Please see the table for details of which tests have a restricted time window. Examples include ferritin and folate (< 48 hrs), and B12 (< 24 hrs) from the time of collection. This week, the LMC has been informed that not all timely adds-ons were being processed. As a result, the lab has swiftly reviewed its processes to improve efficiency. Please note that there will be a cut-off for add-ons on a Friday at 5pm in the case of tests that have limited stability and a comment will be added to the results to explain this. Requests for add-ons can be by phone/email GPPathologyAddon@SomersetFT.nhs.uk. If there are any further issues please let us know somersetlmc.office@nhs.net.
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 GPs 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 (joined by Monahans Accountants and VWV law firm) and will also provide the audience with an opportunity for Q&As. Book your place here.
Weight Management Referrals: As we highlighted in recent weeks, Musgrove weight management team have had significant staff shortages and are rejecting practice referrals. We have escalated this to the ICB as practices are unable to hold waiting lists and are only obliged to refer, we will update you as soon as we can. Whilst they are actively recruiting a new team and developing a recovery plan, they wish to share with you alternative resources that may be appropriate.
Please make use of community provisions for weight loss in the meantime such as:
- NHS Weight Management Patient Webinar which has been developed by NHS dietitians in Somerset
patientwebinars.co.uk/condition/weight-management/ - NHS England Digital Weight Management Service
www.england.nhs.uk/digital-weight-management/ - NHS Weight Loss Plan
www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/start-the-nhs-weight-loss-plan/ - Diabetes Prevention Programme
- The NHS Low Calorie Diet Programme
www.momentanewcastle.com/patient-lcd-somerset or NHS Low Calorie Diet Programme (clarity.co.uk) - Eating Disorder Service for Adults
www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk
Post Mortem Reports: Pathologists will no longer automatically send final post mortem reports to practices. GPs can still access these but need to contact the coroner's office via email to coroner@somerset.gov.uk to request a copy and disclosure will be done on a case-by-case basis.
Somerset New to Practice General Practice Fellowship Programme for Newly Qualified GPs: Are you or do you know a GP that has qualified since April 2022 and is/will be working in Somerset? If so this funded fellowship programme may be of interest. It is a 2 year programme designed to provide personalised support to newly qualified GPs to help gain confidence and to develop enjoyable, fulfilling and sustainable careers in general practice. NHSEI is aiming for a 100% uptake and nearly all of our Somerset GPs have joined. We started in April 21 and have had up to 56 fellows, so you may already have one of our fellows working in your practice! We have had great feedback, and one of the highlights is the benefit of the mentoring, appreciation of paid time (£10,000 pro rata per annum) to undertake chosen CPD or interests and the online monthly Thursday lunchtime 30 minute session with various speakers. Example topics include: knowing about appraisals; PCN overview; lifestyle medicine; managing difficult blood results on a Friday afternoon and time management. This programme continues to evolve according to the needs and aspirations of our fellows. Our next cohort will start in October 23 and the closing date is 7th September 2023. See programme, application form and needs analysis for more information. If you would like to find out more or apply, please contact Dr Catherine Ievers catherine.ievers1@nhs.net.
Practices Sought for Medical Students: Bristol Medical School are currently looking to recruit practices to teach medical students for the 2023-24 academic year. You will find all the information you need in the teaching brochure for the coming academic year. This year, payment rates for teaching will be increasing from £65 to £70 per student per session. The deadline for responses is the 31st May 2023. They are also looking to recruit Effective Consulting tutors to teach our students in Bristol, outside of your practice an opportunity to teach 5th Year students for Cluster Based Teaching in a small group. The year specific expression of interest surveys can be found here: Years 1 & 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5. For further details please email phc-teaching@bristol.ac.uk.
Safe Working in General Practice (BMA)
Measurement of Workload: 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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