Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism
All GP practices in England must ensure their staff receive training in learning disability and autism, including how to interact appropriately with people with a learning disability and autistic people. This requirement was introduced by the Health and Care Act 2022 in July last year. The government’s preferred training programme is the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism. However, the Act does not specify a training package or course for staff. The CQC cannot tell practices specifically how to meet their legal requirements in relation to training, and while NHS England and ICBs may share the government’s training programme preference and encourage uptake, it is ultimately for practices to determine how their staff are trained to meet their legal requirements. Further information is available here.
Gender Dysphoria
We are pleased to report that a local enhanced service is now available for prescribing for patients with gender dysphoria.
Safe working in general practice
The BMA’s England GP committee (GPCE) has generated the following guide Safe working in general practice (bma.org.uk) to enable practices to prioritise safe patient care, within the present bounds of the GMS contract.
Updated guidance on accelerated access to GP-held patient records
On 31 October 2023, practices are contractually obligated to provide record access for patients.
GPC England has written guidance to address common questions, key deadlines and practical considerations to extending online access. Updated guidance on accelerated access to GP-held patient records
Medical Examiner Update June 2023
Over the last three months, the DBTH Medical Examiner Office has made significant progress in the non-acute roll out of the service. The office is now scrutinising deaths at St John’s Hospice and almost all SystmOne practices. We are grateful to practices for the engagement we have had and the process now appears to be working smoothly for bereaved families at these practices. If there are any issues that we are not aware of please contact Ruth Medlock, Nabeel Alsindi, or Gemma Wheatcroft (Lead MEO, g.wheatcroft@nhs.netv ) to discuss these issues.
As we are sure you are all aware, the requirement for medical examiner scrutiny did not become statutory as planned in April 2023. A written ministerial statement was issued at the end of April setting out plans for primary legislation is planned for autumn 2023 and secondary legislation in April 2024. The National Medical Examiner Office has now asked us to complete the roll out to all deaths by October 2023 in preparedness for the statutory system and we appreciate practices continuing to engage in helping us meet this in Doncaster. The plans for the statutory system include an electronic MCCD and possible expansion of the pool of medical practitioners who can complete the MCCD (most likely to be reflected in changing the 28-day rule). The Department of Health & Social Care have published a survey regarding this which is open until 30th June 2023 if you wish to contribute. A privacy notice for the survey is available from Ruth Medlock if you wish to see it prior to completing the survey.
The DBTH ME office are now focussing on work to roll out to EMIS practices over the coming months. In order to have a reliable way to refer cases to the ME office we plan to set up on e-RS (NHS e-Referral Service) for EMIS practices to use. This will allow us to manage cases in the same way as we do currently with SystmOne Practices directly tasking referrals to the ME office. Once this has been completed, we will be in touch with relevant practices with full details.
During the pandemic, MCCDs were emailed to Doncaster Registrars and the paper copies were posted separately to the Registrars for completeness. Following the cessation of the Coronavirus Act families were asked to return to the practice of collecting paper MCCDs from GP practices and take them to their appointment with the registrars. Now MCCDs are sent electronically to the ME office and forwarded to Doncaster registrars once the ME process is completed. Therefore once again the paper copies need to be posted on for completeness. The Superintendant Registrar is happy for these to be posted in a batch monthly rather than each certificate being posted separately to minimise costs and admin time. This is a time-limited issue as we expect a fully electronic MCCD to be in use by April 2024.
Ruth Medlock, Chief ME, DBTH
Nabeel Alsindi, Place Medical Director
NHS Property Services
Many GP practices in NHS Property Services (NHSPS) premises are facing serious difficulties related to increases in service charges. Please find the NHS Property Services guidance for practices based on recent successful legal action supported by the BMA.
Our Future Health research programme
Our Future Health is a new research programme designed to help people live healthier lives for longer, through the discovery and testing of more effective approaches to prevention, earlier detection and treatment of diseases. The aim is to collect and link multiple sources of health and health-relevant information, including genetic data, across a cohort of up to 5 million people that truly reflects the UK population.
Volunteers will give consent to join the research programme and provide secure access to their health records, complete a questionnaire, have a blood sample taken, and physical measurements. They will also be offered information about their own health, including BP and cholesterol levels.
The programme aims to minimise workload for GPs advising patients not to contact practices except in limited circumstances.
Our Future Health has held some webinars for GP practices – the webinar slides, recording and other documents are available here Tresorit Web Downloader Please email engage@ourfuturehealth.org.uk for further information.
Choice to help cut hospital waiting times.
Patients will be given more choice and greater control over their own care, including through the NHS App. A letter More choice to help cut hospital waiting times – GOV.UK issued by the NHS to local areas will require patients to be offered choice when clinically appropriate. After speaking with their GP, patients will be able to view information for up to five healthcare providers – filtered by distance, waiting times and quality of care. They will then be able to make a choice about where they go for treatment using the NHS App or website.
National General Practice Improvement Programme
Information about the new General Practice Improvement Programme can now be found on the NHS England website.
The programme was introduced as part of the delivery plan for recovering access to primary care (https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/delivery-plan-for-recovering-access-to-primary-care/) last month and will provide support for practices and primary care networks (PCNs) over 2 years (2023-2025), to make changes and improvements to how they work.
The focus will be on helping practices and PCNs have more control over their workload, maximise the use of all staff roles and local services, meet the needs of patients and provide safe, equitable care.
The programme will provide 3 levels of support, all underpinned by the principles that change should be clinically led, data-driven and evidence-based. The support will help practices move toward the ‘modern general practice access model’ described in the delivery plan.
Visit the web pages (https://primarycareimprovement.cmail20.com/t/d-l-vlhlyld-tduyjrmih-y/)
A Reminder about LMC Buying Group Membership
The LMC Buying Group helps GP practices save money on products and services they regularly buy.
The Buying Group have negotiated excellent discounts on a wide range of products and services from their approved suppliers.
Buying Group membership is completely free and there is no compulsion to use all the suppliers. They do the hard work associated with finding the most competitive suppliers in cost and customer service, so they save you time as well as money on your purchasing!
Although the Buying Group was originally set up to help GP practices save money on the products and services they regularly buy, membership is now also open to GP Federations and Primary Care Networks.
Why use the Buying Group?
- No membership fees
- Excellent negotiated discounts from a range of suppliers
- Quality products and services
- Free cost analysis for members
- No need to ‘shop around’ anymore – we’ve done the hard work already!
- Access to a recruitment platform to advertise your clinical and non-clinical roles for free and a premium
‘Featured Job’ package for a small fee.
- Access to a community resource hub
If you’re not sure whether you’re a member and/or have access to the Buying Group website (this is where you can view the pricing/discounts and get quotes) then contact the Buying Group team on 0115 979 6910 or info@lmcbuyinggroups.co.uk . They can also help you with any questions you might have about your membership or the suppliers.
LMC Buying Group
Doncaster LMC is been a member of the LMC Buying Groups Federation. This means that practices can access the discounts the Buying Group has negotiated on a wide range of products and services. If you’re not sure what the Buying Group is all about then this short video explains what they do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FekMwFI5ILg.
By registering with the Buying Group: www.lmcbuyinggroups.co.uk/members/, you can view all the suppliers’ pricing, contact details and request quotes. The Buying Group also offers any member practice a free cost analysis which demonstrates how much money your practice could save just by swapping to buying group suppliers. Tel: 0115 979 6910 Email: info@lmcbuyinggroups.co.uk Website: www.lmcbuyinggroups.co.uk
