Somerset LMC Weekly Update Friday 29th November 2024
Date sent: Friday 29 November 2024
Sent to all Somerset GPs and Practice Managers This and previous updates are available here
- MD Soundbites! - this week... Help us celebrate Somerset as a place to live and work
- GPAS (General Practice Alert State)
- Collective Action
- 22nd November -The Conference of England LMCs 2024
- ‘Ask the LMC about Collective Action' - Webinar for Somerset Practices - Clinical News/Updates
- BTS, NICE, Sign Joint Chronic Asthma Guidance Released
- RIS and PACS Upgrade and New Link for WebPACS from Monday 2 December 2024 - Information for Practice Staff
- Homophobic Abuse - Safe Working in General Practice (BMA) This guidance is regularly updated with new items and suggestions
- Job Vacancies
- The Health & Self Care Podcast - new podcast this week
GPAS (General Practice Alert State)
Dear Practice Managers,
Please could we remind you of the importance of completing the General Practice Alert State (GPAS) survey each week. Over the past few weeks, we have noticed a significant drop in the return rate, which impacts the reporting to the wider Somerset system for the Opel status of Primary Care. To enable us to report to the wider system we must at least achieved a 50% return rate.
Your participation is important to make sure we have a comprehensive understanding of the pressures and needs across the practices, not only for wider system but for the LMC also so we can provide support if required.
We kindly ask that your practice completes the GPAS this week and continues to do so regularly.
All guides and instructions to help you complete the GPAS can be found here. If you need any support please contact us lmc.sgpet@nhs.net.
Collective Action
22nd November -The Conference of England LMCs 2024: Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, Chair of GPC England opened Conference with data clearly illustrating that ‘We are doing more for less!’ The Autumn Budget will have a significant detrimental effect on practices – the average cost to an English practice is £36,000, but to some it is £250,000.
The National Insurance Crises is another reason aside from the Contract to join in Collective Action. The ask is ‘We need to do less as are getting less funding’. It’s this or we will have to choose to lay off staff or hand back our contracts. It is unsustainable. We have been asked to think like the Treasury – if we continue to do the same with less, how can we expect to leverage change?
During Conference it was agreed that there will be a Special Conference to ‘discuss and determine what escalatory steps will be needed to ensure the survival of General Practice.’
The ask is clear – to protect our practices we must stop doing what we are not paid for.
‘Ask the LMC about Collective Action' - Webinar for Somerset Practices: On Tuesday 17th December 12.00-13.00, Tim Horlock (LMC Chair) and Justin Geddes (LMC Medical Director) will run a session to discuss any questions on Collective Action within your practice. It is bookable through the LMC website here. We hope to see as many of you as possible and hear your views, even if you cannot make the whole time.
Clinical News/Updates
BTS, NICE, Sign Joint Chronic Asthma Guidance Released: This week, we have Overview | Asthma: diagnosis, monitoring and chronic asthma management (BTS, NICE, SIGN) | Guidance | NICE, and the background is summarised NICE finalises long-awaited joint guidance overhauling asthma care - Pulse Today.
RIS and PACS Upgrade and New Link for WebPACS from Monday 2 December 2024: There is an upgrade to the Somerset NHS Foundation Trust Radiology Information System (RIS) and Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) this weekend (Saturday 30 November and Sunday 1 December 2024). This upgrade will not materially alter the functionality in WebPACS. (WebPACS is the digital system that enables clinicians across Somerset to view x-ray images, and associated radiology reports, for patients.)
The upgrade will result in planned downtime over the weekend, but this should not affect primary care (Any RIS orders sent between 6am on Saturday 30 until 7pm on Sunday 1 December will not be received. PACS will be offline from 5.30am to 7.30am on Sunday 1 December).
How can I view radiology requests and reports during downtime?
Any RIS reports generated prior to 6am on Saturday 30 November will be visible as normal.
Between 6am on Saturday 30 November and 9am on Monday 2 December, there will be no GP reports generated during this time.
New WebPACS link
The new WebPacs link will be available from Sunday 1 December from 6pm onwards.
The new URL is: https://vuepacs.somersetft.nhs.uk/
Primary Care login credentials will remain the same.
Information for Practice Staff
Homophobic Abuse: Sadly, we have received a report that a number of practices have been experiencing graffiti in their toilets that is homophobic. As you can imagine this is very upsetting for some of our colleagues and patients. This form of abuse should not be tolerated under any circumstances and needs to be reported. We are aware that a number of Symphony practices have been targeted.
If your practice has also been a victim of this abuse, please report to the police and the LMC somersetlmc.office@nhs.net. Please be vigilant at your practices!!
In our update on 9th August we included a feature called “Dealing with incidents of Racist abuse in General Practice”, we have included the link in the title as a reminder.
Kind regards
Somerset LMC Team
Crown Medical Centre, Venture Way, Taunton, TA2 8QY
Tel: (01823) 331 428
Fax: (01823) 338 561
www.somersetlmc.co.uk
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