Somerset LMC Weekly Update Friday 13th September 2024
Date sent: Friday 13 September 2024
Sent to all Somerset GPs and Practice Managers This and previous updates are available here
- MD Soundbites! New this week... Moral Distress and Moral Injury
- GPAS (General Practice Alert State)
- Collective Action
- GPC England - Clinical News/Updates
- Cinapsis and eRS
- GPCE View on Request for Cloud Based Telephony Data
- MARs Charts Update
- Safe Working Guidance
- 4Ts Campaign
- Connecting the Dots Meeting - Information for GP Partners/Salaried/Locums/Practice Managers
- The Hidden Workload Study - Training/Events
- Somerset Treatment Escalation Plan Roadshows - Safe Working in General Practice (BMA) This guidance is regularly updated with new items and suggestions
- Job Vacancies
- The Health & Self Care Podcast New this week... All About ADHD
Collective Action
GPC England have published a ‘Safe working guidance’ handbook to help GPs and practices in the delivery of safe, high-quality care for their patients and communities. This can be downloaded and saved from the website.The profession wants to provide care without risking harm to others or ourselves.
At a time of unprecedented pressures, we must make changes to our workload to preserve patient care in the face of a shrinking workforce and rising demand. This will help to protect the sustainability and future of general practice.
We recommend you do this by focusing on the delivery of General Medical Services, in line with the needs of your patients and practice, and deprioritising work and activities that fall outside of your core contractual requirements. This guidance reflects the contractual changes imposed by NHS England in April 2024. We offer ways of doing this that still enable you to stay within the terms of your GMS/PMS.
The guidance outlines how to manage workload effectively, setting safe limits of 25 patient consultations per day in line with UEMO recommendations, and encouraging practices to adopt systems that protect both patients and staff.
Clinical News/Updates
Cinapsis and eRS: Most GPs are reporting to the LMC that Cinapsis is a really positive tool and the advice and speed of referrals from our dermatology colleagues is first class. The dermatology pathway was developed in conjunction with general practice. However, the option for referring via eRS exits if you choose to use it – this is in line with the BMC guidance on collective action.
GPCE View on Request for Cloud Based Telephony Data: As part of the 2024/25 contract imposed on the profession in April, NHS England (NHSE) have sought directions from the Secretary of State to extract data from our clinical systems on our Cloud Based Telephony (CBT) usage. An email has been sent by NHSE outlining the instructions to comply with this data extraction under section 259 (1) (a) of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, stating:
‘All general practices are therefore mandated to comply with this invitation and approve the collection.’
The legal basis for the collection is explained in the Data Provision Notice, which will enable your call data to be extracted on a monthly basis.
The BMA has taken its own legal advice:
'Practices cannot decline the instructions, as doing so will risk breaching their contract.'
We have made it clear to NHSE that the data must not be used to performance manage practices or single them out for criticism.
The PCN DES includes three components of the Capacity and Access Improvement Payment (CAIP). This data extraction is the component pertaining to the existing use of CBT and the relevant metrics. GPCE advice is that should a practice fail to sign up ahead of the October 1st deadline, there may be a risk of a breach notice being imposed as well as contravening the Health and Social Care Act 2012.
From the 1st October PCN CDs can sign the declaration for the ‘better digital telephony’ component of Capacity and access element of the DES.
There is another component which relates to ask No 9 in our collective action campaign. We have significant concerns around online consultation software being available to patients from 08:00-18:30 given practices’ lack of capacity, and their responsibilities for ensuing patient safety.
GPCE advice continues to apply here: CDs and PCNs are advised not to sign the ‘simpler online requests’ declaration presently, but to await further guidance closer to the financial year end.
Read the full update here and if you have any queries, please email info.gpc@bma.org.uk.
MARs Charts Update: We have had confirmation from NHS Somerset ICB that they are not enacting any change to the licencing or access to EMIS Web for Somerset GP Practices. SFT colleagues can continue to access EMIS Viewer at this time, and they will only consider transition to SIDeR+ from EMIS Viewer, hopefully later this year, when it is deemed clinically safe and comparable from a data / content perspective, to do so.
This would not affect the ability of District Nurses to complete the MARs charts.
Safe Working Guidance: At Somerset LMC we know the pressure – too few GPs seeing too many patients. The guidance highlights the increased dissatisfaction with GP practices and the implications for patients and GPs particularly on burnout and wellbeing. The documents aims to empower you to implement safe working practices – 15 minute appointments, signposting to other services, implementing safety net plans, communicating with patients and continually reviewing processes. There is also a wealth of information on workload prioritisation and advice for salaried GPs and locums.
Our first duty is to our patients. The profession wants to provide safe, high-quality care for our patients, without risking harm to others or ourselves. At a time of unprecedented pressures, we must make changes to our workload to preserve patient care in the face of a shrinking workforce and rising demand. All this must be done within the constraints of the present GMS/PMS contract.
We cannot care for our patients if we do not care for ourselves and our colleagues.
Manage workload to protect your patients and protect your practice.
4Ts Campaign: Type 1 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes in children, affecting around 1 in 400 in the UK by age 18, with rising incidence. Hospital admissions for diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) in the Southwest are also increasing, often because many children are unaware that they have Type 1 diabetes until they become critically ill. Recognising the signs of DKA early can prevent emergencies and save lives.
The most common symptoms of type 1 diabetes in children are the 4Ts:
- Toilet — Going for a wee more often, especially at night, bed wetting by a previously dry child or heavier nappies in babies.
- Thirsty — Being really thirsty and not being able to quench the thirst. A child may ask for a drink more often, finish drinks very quickly or parents might notice they generally drink more.
- Tired — being incredibly tired and having no energy, not playing as often, less energy for sports. A child may have trouble staying awake in school, or a baby might start napping more or for longer.
- Thinner — Losing weight or looking thinner than usual.
The 4Ts Campaign aims to reduce hospital admissions of DKA in the Southwest and encourage earlier diagnoses of type 1 diabetes.
Action Required:
- Please see this letter to GP Practices from NHS England Southwest and Diabetes UK for more information.
- Download or request physical poster and flyer copies.
- Share the e-learning tool for all healthcare professionals to complete.
Additional info: DUK & NHSE SW logos, 4Ts messaging, 4Ts social with logo, 4Ts social illustration, 4Ts illustrated email banner,
email headed banner and Twitter page banner.
Connecting the Dots Meeting: 24th September 2024, 1-2pm. Link to join the meeting - Click here to join the meeting. Topic – Learning Disabilities
Information for GP Partners/Salaried/Locums/Practice Managers
The Hidden Workload Study: Practices may have received a request to take part in this study, funded by the RCGP. The LMC have replied stating that we could not support without funding during this time of collective action. It is of course down to individual practices if they wish to take part.
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
General Practice in Somerset Great Place Great Potential
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