Avon LMCs Newsletter on 10-07-24

The ALMC Newsletter

Welcome to our weekly newsletter, sharing the latest news and topics of interest for practices.

– LATEST NEWS –

A new blog for a new government – so what do we think Labour will do to help General Practice? So far, Wes Streeting, the new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, is making all the right noises by promising to divert funds from hospitals to invest into general practice. My concern is the time taken to achieve this, when many practices are already facing financial uncertainty due to rising expenses.

There is an urgent need to mitigate the rise in utility costs and the impact of the introduction of the national minimum wage, to prevent practices from becoming financially unviable. From a workforce perspective, practices need the temporary option of inclusion of GPs and practice nurses into the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme. This will not only reduce the current underemployment of GPs, but it will also provide valuable appointments to address patient access. I view this as a temporary option because a new GP contract should be all about funding CORE general practice, rather than the complex add-ons we have ended up with.

But the Chair of GPC England has articulated the needs of general practice very well in her open letter to Wes Streeting, which outline immediate and longer term priorities.

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning.” – Albert Einstein

Dr Shaba Nabi
Chair Avon LMC

LMC Membership Survey for Collective Action

This was emailed to all practice managers last week and the deadline for practice submission is 26^th July. We are planning to discuss the survey results within a membership event in September, to achieve a BNSSG consensus.

Please email info@almc.co.uk if your practice has not received this survey.

Virtual LMC drop-in discuss LES Contract and Collective Action options: Tues 16th July, 13:00 – 14:00

If you have any questions around the LMC survey for collective action, or wish to discuss the LES contract in more detail, then please join us for a virtual LMC drop-in by registering here.

LMC Membership Event: Save the date – 10th September 2024. 19:00 – 21:00

Please put this important date in your diary for a face-to-face meeting to discuss the results of the Avon LMC Collective Action Survey and next steps. The purpose of the meeting is to achieve a consensus for collective action within the BNSSG area, and to discuss any concerns/barriers to action. It is important to recognise that none of the actions outlined in the survey constitute a breach of contract.

We are hoping to invite two members of staff from each practice and would love it if all practices could be represented.

Calling all non-GP Contract Holders – Support the “Protect your patients, protect your GP practice” campaign

The following survey should be completed by anyone in your practice who is a Practice Partner, but not a GP (eg: Practice Manager Partner, Nurse Partner, Pharmacist Partner)

In recent weeks, the GPC England team has been speaking at roadshow events across the country, hosted by regional LMCs to hear about the ballot for collective action. If the ballot is successful, GPCE will invite GP contractors/partner BMA members to determine the actions they are willing to take from the proposed list of nine. These actions should be discussed, agreed and enacted across the whole practice team.

As the non-statutory ballot is only open to GP Partners who are BMA members, GPC England has created the below form, for non-GP Contract Holders to sign and show support for GPCE’s “Protect your patients, protect your GP practice” campaign. Further information on the campaign can be found here.

Sign this form to support our “Protect your patients, protect your GP practice” campaign.
https://forms.office.com/e/6MgjjLfwgZ

Introduction to Marcus

Administrator

Marcus joined the Avon LMC team in Jul 2024 and is looking forward to a new challenge of exploring ways of enhancing Avon LMC engagement with GPs and practices.

His role at the LMC is a combination of office administration work, website development and maintaining social media presence. He has developed his skills and knowledge from previous roles in Practice and Hospital.

Safe working guidance webinars

Following feedback from the GPCE roadshows, the BMA and Practice Manager Association will be jointly delivering webinars to hear practical examples of how practices can be supported to manage their workload. Please disseminate these links to your practice leadership teams so they can register interest.

You asked, We said

Question: A member of staff contacted UHBW regarding a needlestick injury and was told that their practice is not covered because the Practice did not have a contract. CQC requires guidance to be in place for the protection of staff. Can Avon LMC help us with a solution?

Answer: Avon LMC has been able to arrange a contract with UHBW Occupational Health.

Practices will have the following options available to enable them to gain access to the service:

1.           Avon LMC contract with UHBW
2.           Alternative provider’s contract with UHBW
3.           Practice enters own contract with UHBW

Should you wish to use the service via Avon LMC’s contract, please let our team know and we can arrange the access fee and relevant invoicing to be set up. The Tariff is available below and the annual access fee varies depending on Practice list size. Avon LMC wishes to provide access to the services whilst ensuring practices are not paying more than is necessary.

The costings for contamination injury can be found below:

Contamination Injury
Access to Advice-Line (Annual) up to 100 Employees	£375.00
Contamination Incident Initial Contact	£69.00
Contamination Injury-24 week follow up bloods appointment	£39.00
Contamination Injury-6 week follow up bloods appointment	£39.00
Contamination Injury – follow up bloods appointment	£39.00
Contamination Injury-full blood count	£60.00
Contamination Injury-PEP drug pack (includes prescribing time)	£350.00
Contamination Injury-HIV Antibodies	£98.00
Hepatitis B Blood Test – Surface Antigen	£52.00
Hepatitis B Vaccination per Dose (4 Doses required)	£54.00
HIV Antibodies	£98.00
Source Patient Blood Results	£32.00
Storage Blood – Recipient	£32.00
Contamination Incident Report Form	£54.00

Annual Access fee if contracted through Avon LMC, based on patient list size, for reference:

Practice List size	Annual fee
0 – 7999	£133.00
8000 – 14,999	£208.45
15,000 +	£283.90
30,000+	£381.98

Because more than one provider is offering the service through UHBW, we would ask that you make it known whose contract you are accessing the service under, to avoid any duplication of fees.

The Avon LMC contract with UHBW for needlestick injuries is available with immediate effect.

Please feel free to contact info@almc.co.uk if you have any further questions and please notify our team if you wish to have access to the service through Avon LMC.

Open letter from Chair GPC England to Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

Please see here for the letter from Chair GPC England.

OneCare’s latest Bulletin