Avon LMCs Newsletter on 24-06-26

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The ALMC Newsletter

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

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– LATEST NEWS –

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As we all battle the current heat wave, I wanted to highlight some of the ‘hot’ topics affecting our practices:

NHS England List Cleansing

Firstly, I would encourage practices to read the detailed explanation in this bulletin regarding NHS England’s current programme of list cleansing. Whilst maintaining accurate patient registration data is important, the scale and pace of the current exercise presents significant risks for practices. Sudden reductions in registered populations can destabilise practice funding, workforce planning and service delivery, particularly where patients are removed in large numbers before practices have had sufficient opportunity to verify records. Given the direct relationship between patient list size and practice income, it is essential that practices understand the implications of this work and engage with the process carefully.

Meeting with the ICB Chief Medical Officer

Earlier today, Avon LMC met with the Chief Medical Officer of the BNSSG and Gloucestershire ICB, Dr Raghuram, to discuss a range of issues affecting general practice across the system.

A significant part of the discussion focused on the continued left shift of work from secondary care into primary care. We reiterated the importance of ensuring that where responsibility for long-term condition management and other clinical activity is transferred into general practice, appropriate funding and resources must accompany that work. The sustainability of general practice depends upon ensuring that new responsibilities are properly commissioned and funded rather than simply absorbed into already stretched workloads.

We also discussed the implications of increasing collaboration between ICBs and the potential risks associated with attempts to equalise historic contractual arrangements across systems. Avon LMC’s position remains clear: where funding disparities exist, our expectation is that underfunded practices should be brought up to the level of better-funded contracts, rather than funding being equalised through downward harmonisation. General practice cannot afford further erosion of its funding base.

The conversation also covered the ongoing pressures facing practices, including increasing workload, workforce challenges and the continuing financial fragility experienced by many surgeries. These issues remain at the forefront of our discussions with system leaders.

Finally, we explored the evolving neighbourhood agenda and the potential development of future contractual models, including both single-neighbourhood and multi-neighbourhood provider arrangements. Whilst these discussions remain at an early stage, Avon LMC will continue to engage closely with the ICB to ensure that any future models support, rather than undermine, the viability and independence of local general practice and the partnership model.

Scroll to the bottom to find this week’s dad joke.


Lee Salkeld
Chair: Avon LMC

A brief reminder of the current collective action recommendations from GPC England.

• May 2026, practices were encouraged not to sign any new data-sharing agreements unless they are mandatory, contractually required, or provide a clear benefit to the practice.

June 2026, practices were encouraged to review the use of non-contractual medicines optimisation software and consider removing or discontinuing systems that are not required under the GP contract. As always, practices should carefully consider local circumstances before deciding how best to participate.

 
Nominations have now closed for the Bristol and North Somerset Board Director positions.

As valid nominations have been received for both positions, elections will now be held for the Bristol Board Director and North Somerset Board Director roles.

Voting forms will be circulated to Practice Managers for distribution to eligible voters. Please ensure that votes are submitted using the provided voting forms.  The closing date for voting is 10 July at 6:00 pm

• Bristol GPs only will be eligible to vote in the Bristol Board Director election.
• North Somerset GPs only will be eligible to vote in the North Somerset Board Director election.

Candidate Statements can be found here

Please note that each GP from your practice is entitled to cast one vote only.
If you do not received the voting link from your Practice Manager, please contact info@almc.co.uk 

Due to competing interests, the drop-in for June was postponed to 14 July. Sign-in details will be shared nearer the time.

This has been subject to some minor amendments and is now hosted on the LMC website so please use this version, as future iterations will be amended at source.

 

Question: The process for Bristol child Safeguarding Referrals has changed to phone only, and we are unsure if there is an audit trail for referrals conducted verbally. Thank you for looking into this.

Answer (from Safeguarding Team): We have internally reviewed the phones process and have found it helpful in improving the quality of safeguarding referrals coming through the front door, so it was agreed internally to maintain this process.   Most professionals found the changes hugely positive, and we received lots of positive feedback, particularly from health and education colleagues. We have less situations where we need to chase professionals for more information following incomplete written referrals, so it makes safeguarding processes for children timelier. 
   
I note that some professionals had anxiety about information collated via phone’s being inaccurately recorded and having an audit trail.  Professionals wanting an audit trail were offered opportunities to follow up all phone calls in writing, however, to date we have not had any issues in respect of this.  There is an expectation for all professionals phoning First Response to record who they spoke to, and the advice given.

 
Details of this programme being delivered to young people can be found here.
It is important to note that neither GPC England nor the General Pharmaceutical Council were made aware that this programme would be solely commissioned to Community Pharmacy.

 We have been made aware of significant numbers of patients being deducted from practices, at a rate far higher than the past. Avon LMC would urge you to take the following steps:

1. Determine your current list size and which patients have been automatically deducted over the past six months by way of the FP69 process. Where a patient has been inappropriately deducted, this can be directly challenged with NHSE

2. Ensure someone in the practice is responsible for actively monitoring inbound FP69 flags and review their validity

Document any patient safety concerns which have arisen as a result of this process so these can be collated and submitted as part of a significant event analysis 

• This can be found here.

This anonymised questionnaire has been created in collaboration with AWP. Its purpose is to better understand GP experience of AWP services, with a particular focus on identifying potential commissioning gaps that may be impacting service delivery and user satisfaction. This survey aims to gather constructive insights that can help highlight areas where commissioning arrangements may not fully align with current needs. 

Data will be used solely for the purpose of identifying themes and informing service improvement and will be handled in accordance with relevant data protection requirements.
GP Experience of Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (AWP) Services – Fill in form

We have all four of the recent MMRV films on youtube now so please share, share, share!

Thank you for all your contributions. Also note the Zoe film is aimed at a healthcare staff audience so may be useful for training purposes with your colleagues.

• Bristol mum discusses MMRV vaccine fears
• New mum explains her MMRV vaccine journey
• Bristol doctor recommends MMRV vaccination for children
• Practice nurse details the new MMRV vaccine and answers common questions

Justin Warr

Communications Manager (integrated vaccination programme) NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board

The Training Hub, Avon LMC, One Care and IGPM are inviting all BNSSG general practice and PCN management colleagues to our next quarterly pan-BNSSG meeting, as part of our dedicated management development and support programme.  
This invitation extends to Practice Managers, PCN Managers, Deputy/Assistant Managers, and anyone aspiring to work in practice or PCN management.  
 
Date: Thursday 2^nd July 2026 
Time: 14:00 – 15:30 
Venue: MS Teams webinar 
 
Click here to register, or copy this

URL: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/59b9d776-0f1a-4856-9994-a78a0a8163c4@37c354b2-85b0-47f5-b222-07b48d774ee3 
 
For further information, please contact Louise Carthy, Project Lead, at L.Carthy@nhs.net.  

 
Thursday 18 June General practice bulletin

Tuesday 23 June General practice bulletin

The Management Training Package offer from ALMC Learning Hub has added dates for the Data Protection and Strategic Management courses. More details can be found here
 
Avon LMC Programme Registration – Fill in form
 
Bookings for all courses must be made by the Practice Manager, Nurse Manager, or authorised person within the practice. This is due to the cancellation/non-attendance charge the practice is liable for.
 
The training is free for General Practice staff who are not GPs. Should GPs wish to attend any PST-funded training, there is a charge of £75 per attendance, which must be settled before the course date.
 
Please note that bespoke requests may incur a charge, as the opportunity to attend training should be made available to all.
 
We have also been asked to explore further training options and would like to gauge interest in potential future course delivery. Please use the link below to express interest in any courses/modules you wish to take and this can be completed by anyone who is interest in the course options. Details of the modules can be found here
 
Avon LMC Programme – Expression of Interest – Fill in form

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– LATEST TRAINING AND EVENTS –

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I told my wife that she should embrace her mistakes. She gave me a hug!

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