Avon LMCs Newsletter on 03-07-24

---

The ALMC Newsletter

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

---

– LATEST NEWS –

---

It’s been an eventful weekend, in between the nail-biting football, Glastonbury, and acting on the messages coming through from GPC England about the GP Connect update. Hopefully, you have already seen my email sent over the weekend about this, but I am also sharing the contents of it within this newsletter, because it is not too late to act.

What this flurry of activity has shown me is how important it is to have a method for agile communications with our membership, and we discussed this at our quarterly Board away day yesterday. We are looking to set up an Avon LMC WhatsApp broadcast only group in the near future – so watch this space.

I’ve been getting quite a few queries about potential GP collective action and a request for this to be coordinated within BNSSG. As such, we have sent a survey out to all practice managers to complete on a practice level, to understand what actions practices are prepared to undertake. We would love to have a 100% response rate for completion of this very important survey, so please look out for it this week. Once we collate this data, Avon LMC can offer a steer for next steps for collective action.

“Collective action remains the best way of renewing the march towards the great trinity of liberty, equality, and solidarity.” Guy Standing

Dr Shaba Nabi
Chair Avon LMC

Practices are understandably disappointed and demoralised about the lack of sufficient inflationary uplift for the LES tariff for 2024 – 2026. In our last newsletter, Avon LMC shared what the tariff should be, once inflation since 2019 is considered, and we advised practices to take a view on the long-term sustainability of continuing with any LES.

At the last GPCB meeting, there was a call for Avon LMC to facilitate a meeting of all practices understand the appetite to take collective action over this.

However, In the background of pending collective action through the GPCE ballot, we need to consider where this sits in the larger menu of options for collective action. This has been added to the menu of options within the LMC survey which will be shared this week, and we need to await the results of this before offering a steer within BNSSG.

I hope you agree with this plan, but if you would like to share any further thoughts on this, or collective action in general, please register for a virtual LMC catch-up on 16^th July at 1pm by registering here

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.

Email sent on 30/06/24 to all Practice Managers/Clinical Directors/One Care

The issue

NHS England is planning to remove the mechanism by which GP practices can switch off the GP Connect update record function. Switching off this update function does not remove the existing functionality of hospitals viewing GP records and district nurses etc inputting to EMIS. It merely prevents the additional update of community pharmacies writing directly into EMIS for pharmacy first disposals (this is not happening yet, and this information currently comes in as a post event PDF)

Why you need to act

The reason we must prevent this update is because it is potentially a pathway to transfer all sorts of unfunded, non-commissioned work to general practice. It also breaches the integrity of the patient records, of which GPs are the data controller.  

Please watch this brief video from Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, Chair of GPC England, to understand the issues. 

How can you switch off the GP Connect update NOW?

Here is a super simple guide to switching this update off NOW. 

How do I know it won’t impact on important record sharing functions?

Switching off the update will not prevent:

• Hospitals seeing our records
• District Nurses/Palliative care staff seeing our records and writing in EMIS
• The ability to edit the RESPECT forms
• AccuRx functions

What are the downsides to switching off the GP Connect update?

Currently, there are no downsides as we are not yet using this function. In future, pharmacy first notifications from community pharmacies will not enter the EMIS record directly, and you will continue receiving the post event PDF message which will feature in documents. 

The BMA and Avon LMC thinks this is a small price to pay for retaining control of the records as Data Controller under GDPR. 

And there is always the option to switch back on again if there are significant unintended consequences which become apparent. 

Where can I read more about this?

The BMA guidance on data sharing and GP data controllership is a good place to start. 

There is also a BMA FAQ document on the GP Connect update

FAQs on GP Connect Update Record

So, in summary, share this message with the decision makers in your practices as soon as you get it and aim to switch off the GP Connect update functionality. If you are seeing this message for the first time, do it now.

Question: I have recently attended a sexual health update, and they advised that fluoroquinolone antibiotics should only be prescribed if others cannot be given, due to safety concerns by MHRA. Should we be offering im ceftriaxone for PID instead?

Answer:  There are two considerations here: the ideal clinical pathway for a patient, and the GP contractual implications for a practice.

The ICB antibiotic guidelines advises ceftriaxone as first line for women with suspected Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, but also includes alternative regimes. The BASHH guidance includes more than one option for treatment.

From a GP contractual perspective, any new treatment requiring nurse time to administer it, would need to be commissioned and funded separately from the core GP contract, so you are not obliged to deliver it. The LMC will also raise this with the ICB Medicines Optimisation team.

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.

·       16 July 19.30 to 21.00: BMA/Practice Manager Association
·       17 July 12.30pm to 1.30pm: Practice Manage Association/ BMA Safe Working Guidance

For those of you who were unable to attend the CQC webinar on 26/06/24, here is a link to the slides. 

CQC Slides

Read the latest GPC England bulletin here

• Tuesday 2 July General practice bulletin (mailchi.mp) 
• Thursday 27 June General practice bulletin (mailchi.mp)

---

– LATEST TRAINING AND EVENTS –

---

WE ARE DELIGHTED TO SHARE THAT WE HAVE SECURED FUNDING TO BE ABLE TO OFFER PAID CPD FUNDING FOR ONE YEAR FOR NURSES AND NURSE ASSOCIATES ON THE PROGRAMME.

The New to Practice Programme is for any nurse that is new to general practice (Registered Nurses and Nurse Associates), we also offer preceptorship for newly qualified nurses.  It includes: 

• Paid CPD time
• Teaching in all aspects of the GPN role (a 6-month programme, 2-hour sessions every 2 weeks).
• A co-ordinated training package – we can book basic training (e.g. core imms, contraception etc) with MA training according to the nurse’s requirements.  
• Regular one-to-one meetings and/or supervised clinics with our Legacy Nurses, Helen Russell, and Jenny Bowen.  

JENNY BOWEN AND HELEN RUSSELL (LEGACY NURSES) LEGACY.NURSES@ALMC.CO.UK

• 9 July AAC guidance on titrating patients and statin intolerance
•  9 July Breast cancer screening for primary care non-clinical staff
• 10 July Raring to return: supporting GPs after a period of leave
• 16 July CYP EduForum: six week check
• 25 July FCP Workshop – An interpretation of blood results in MSK cases

Please see here for full event details.
For further information please contact Bnssg.training.hub@nhs.net

Cancer health and wellbeing charity Penny Brohn UK are running a Menopause Support Day on the 17th of July at their centre in Bristol for individuals who are experiencing early or unexpected menopausal symptoms as a result of cancer treatment.
 
Delivered by a multidisciplinary team of cancer specialists, patients will gain a range of tools to manage the impact of hormonal changes – covering diet, physical activity and stress management. 
 
Learn more and apply here: https://bit.ly/49vgvvg
 
*To ensure that as many people can join as possible, Penny Brohn UK are able to offer the opportunity to stay at the centre the night before on a bed and light breakfast basis*

---

---