Somerset LMC Weekly Update Friday 20th October 2023
Date sent: Friday 20 October 2023
Sent to all Somerset GPs and Practice Managers This and previous updates are available here
- MD Soundbites!
- GPAS (General Practice Alert State)
- 3 month supply shortages of ADHD medications
- New BMA guidance for sessional GPs
- DWP Fit note guidance
- National Turnaround Time (TAT) in imaging update
- NHS Health Checks
- Opportunities with the new Careers Plus programme for nurses working within Primary Care
- Safeguarding Lunch & Learn sessions with ICB
- Job Vacancies
3 month supply shortages of ADHD medications: Increased global demand and manufacturing issues have led to national disruptions of various strengths of methylpenhidate, lisdexamfatamine and guanfacine. The alert is available ( NATPSA) here alongside SFT guidance (ADHD meds supply). Unliike methylphenidate and lisdexamfatamine, we would like to highlight that abrupt withdrawal of guanfacine discontinuation can be harmful and secondary care input will be required. The LMC is in conversation with the ADHD team to provide clear support for primary care, and the National PSA advice is for specialists teams are:
- Support primary care teams seeking advice for patients currently prescribed the affected products,
- Provide individualised management plans, where required; and
- Recommend alternatives in line with NICE guidance, where appropriate.
We will share further advice as it develops and we also await national GPC guidance on this matter.
New BMA guidance for sessional GPs The BMA’s Sessional GPs Committee and GPC England have produced new guidance and support for managing the workload and overtime for salaried GPs. GPs and practices across the country are working hard, to support the delivery of more than a million appointments every day. This toolkit builds on the BMA’s existing Safer Guidance Working which was published last year. It is essential that we seek to retain the GPs that we have in our practice teams, and to give all GPs, irrespective of their contractual status, access to advice and support they need. We hope this guidance may encourage more open conversations where needed, around sustainable workload and demand management. However, let us be clear: the real solution here lies with the Government, in making sure that general practice has the resources required to safely and effectively meet patient demand in the first place.
DWP Fit note guidance The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has published new guidance for GPs and other healthcare professionals using fit notes (statements of fitness for work) and GPCE was involved in its development https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fit-note . The LMC website has been updated accordingly.
National Turnaround Time (TAT) in imaging update. In August 2023, NHSE implemented new reporting guidance NHS England » Diagnostic imaging reporting turnaround times . The national TAT on all urgent GP cases is within 7 days and all routine GP requests within 28 days. The current guidance is considered a stepping stone to more ambitious TATs for consideration in the future. If capacity allows, all imaging departments and networks are encouraged to achieve faster TATs than those set in the guidance. Fortunately reporting in Somerset is often quicker in the majority of cases.
NHS Health Checks Somerset Council will be bringing the NHS Health Checks programme in-house as of 1st April 2024. We are seeking to engage with:
- GP Practices who are interested in a delivery + invites contract to deliver the NHS Health Check either just to their own practice population or across a wider PCN footprint.
- GP Practices who would be interested in an ‘invites only’ contract to send out invites to their practice population to receive an NHS Health Check elsewhere in Somerset.
We will be hosting a virtual teams-based engagement event on Tuesday 31st October 1pm-2pm to provide some more information and launch the formal expression of interest. Please email PHCCT@somerset.gov.uk for an invite. We will make a recording available as well as summary of the presentation and questions and answers to those unable to attend. Deadline for the EOI will be Monday 20th November 2023.
We have already had some very useful feedback on the current delivery model from our survey and direct engagement with some practices which has shaped how we take the service forwards. As you will see from the above we are looking to engage as before with practices to deliver the health checks either stand alone or in a PCN footprint. Also as a new element we have an offer to practices who would be willing to send out invites to checks running elsewhere in Somerset. We are planning a strong emphasis on equity of delivery across the county which will enable us to address health and social inequalities and also to really embed a learning culture in our system.
Opportunities with the new Careers Plus programme for nurses working within Primary Care. A 10-session funded programme, held over 6 months, which is aimed at nurses in Primary Care. This programme has been developed with a coaching focus to facilitate the development of new skills and help nurses discover a more fulfilling work-life balance. It gives nurses the opportunity to network with colleagues in a supportive environment, and therefore support practices in the retention of those experienced staff who are vital to Primary Care. There are only a small number of places unfilled for the first programme which starts mid-November 2023 so please do contact sphadmin@nhs.net if you would like to confirm your place. The course takes place on one/two Wednesday mornings per month. For more information and to learn how you or your practice can benefit from this new and exciting programme take a look at TeamNet Career Plus .
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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