Avon LMCs Newsletter on 04-03-26

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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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It has been an eventful week, marked by the unexpected publication of the 2026/27 GP Contract just two days before GPC England was scheduled to discuss and vote on it. Having served on the BMA’s GP Committee since 2018, I cannot recall a previous occasion where a contract has effectively been imposed before meaningful discussion has even taken place. This follows last Autumn’s announcement that contract discussions would proceed via a broad stakeholder consultation rather than formal negotiation. Such an approach risks diluting the established role of the BMA as a Trade Union and must be robustly challenged at every level.

Beyond LMC business, it was genuinely energising to attend a Faculty Day for GP Educators across the Southwest. Conversations there reinforced that the pressures we face are not confined to frontline clinical delivery; they extend into education, supervision, and the protected reflective space that underpins safe training. As GP trainee numbers expand without commensurate investment in educator capacity and time, we must remain vigilant in preserving the quality of group learning and reflective practice that sustains both our future workforce and our profession.

Finally, I am delighted to share the news of Avon’s next LMC Chair. Lee Salkeld, GP Partner at Whiteladies Medical Group and current Bristol LMC Board Director, was elected unopposed and will begin his three-year term on 1st April. Lee has served Avon LMC with dedication since 2013, bringing thoughtful judgement, deep system knowledge and a collaborative approach that commands respect across the patch. He combines experience with quiet diplomacy and a genuine commitment to representing the voice of general practice. I have every confidence that the LMC will be in safe and capable hands under his leadership.

As we look ahead, the common thread is clear: nurturing future leaders while ensuring experienced advocacy remains strong at the helm. Both are essential if general practice is to remain sustainable, influential and true to its values.

“The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” — Ralph Nader

Shaba Nabi
Chair: Avon LMC

The current Chair, Dr Shaba Nabi, will remain in post until 1st April, at which point the role will be handed over to the incoming Chair, Dr Lee Salkeld. This will create a vacancy for the Bristol LMC Board Director position, which will not be filled until after the appointment of two new Medical Directors.

During the recruitment period for the Medical Director roles, Dr Shaba Nabi will provide transitional cover until 1st August to ensure that essential operational work continues uninterrupted.

Further details regarding the Medical Director recruitment process will be shared in due course.

The official NHS England can be found here.
Summary of changes:

• 3.6% cash growth – > 1.4% relative to GDP deflator
• Access changes
  • Patients identified as clinically urgent (by GP) to be seen same day
  • Must not ask patients to call back another day
  • No capping online consultation volumes
• A&G DES funding – > move to core funding
  • Most referrals to go through Single Point Access for advice first
• PCN DES
  • CAP funding – > move to practice level GP reimbursement scheme to support same day access
  • Removal restriction to GP ARRS roles (not just recently qualified)
• QOF changes
  • 2 obesity indicators
  • New Diabetes indicator to reflect NICE care processes
  • 4 pillar treatment for Heart Failure

Question: What would be the advice in the event of a patient submitting an online consultation which includes narrative about a GP. An example of this would be the patient sharing their clinical history and ending with a desire not to see a particular GP and give reasons such as them being rude or dismissive. We were uncertain if this part of it should be redacted from the patient’s records, or if this would not be permitted as the patient has access to their on-line records and can see that the statement was redacted.

This type of scenario happens a lot with on-line consulting

Answer: (from Medical Protection Society)
Relevant guidance Paragraph 69 of the GMC Good Medical Practice guidance advises:

“69 You must make sure that formal records of your work (including patients’ records) are clear, accurate, contemporaneous and legible.”

The Practice may want to review the NHS England guidance on redacting information for online record access. An extract of that guidance is highlighted below:

“For most patients there will be very little or no information in their record that needs redacting. They are likely to be fully aware of the information recorded and shared about them, including hospital letters, test results, and information which refers to other people such as family history or a family letter.

There are few hard and fast rules with redaction. Information that may be fine to share with one patient, may need to be redacted for another. Issues to consider are whether:

• the patient already knows about or has already had access to the information (if the answer is yes, then there is a strong argument that the information should not be redacted)
• any information could be harmful to the patient
• any information needs to be discussed with the patient before it is shared”

Advice
From the information you have provided, I cannot see a reason to redact this information. The patient would be clearly aware they have provided this information, and it would be important for the patient’s medical records to remain accurate. On a separate issue, I suggest the Practice may need to consider whether these expressions of dissatisfaction might need responding to as a formal complaint.

We are grateful to the ICB for extending this deadline to 20^th March.

A local school has issued letters advising parents and carers to arrange routine hearing and sight tests for their children, listing General Practice as a contact point. Although currently limited to one school, this appears to follow a directive from a local education trust, and further letters may be circulated more widely.

Practices may therefore see an increase in enquiries about routine hearing and vision checks.

While well intentioned, the advice does not align with local or national screening policy:

• Routine school-age hearing screening is not provided in BNSSG.
• Vision screening beyond Reception is not routinely commissioned locally.
• Parents may assume GP practices offer routine testing or referrals for asymptomatic children.

To support consistent responses and reduce unnecessary workload, we have developed a template letter for practices to send to parents who enquire about routine hearing or vision tests which can be found here.

Management in Practice Bristol is back – returning after several years with a refreshed programme designed to equip practice managers, PCN leaders, and GP partners for the sweeping changes arriving in 2026.

With major elements of the 10-year health plan coming into effect, including the rollout of neighbourhood health services and evolving expectations for joint working, practice managers will play a central role in shaping how these changes are delivered on the ground. 

You can register here.

NHS England has published animation on suicide prevention to support staff on how to recognise signs of suicidal distress in themselves and others, and the ways in which they can seek help.

Called ‘Opening Doors’, the resource has been developed by the authors of the Zero Suicide training, in partnership with healthcare staff who have been impacted by suicide.

The aim of this training is to:

• Raise awareness of suicide risk within healthcare colleagues.
• Enable staff to recognise signs of suicidal distress in themselves and others.
• Support healthcare staff to intervene if they are concerned that a colleague is suicidal, encourage help seeking behaviour and signpost to support.
• Challenge the stigma of seeking help within the healthcare community.

The training compliments the Suicide Prevention toolkit, which was included within the DHSC Suicide prevention strategy for England: 2023 to 2028.

The training is free to undertake and available on the NHS Learning Hub.

• 31 March 2026: Virtual LMC drop in, 1pm – 2pm
• 5 May 2026: Virtual LMC drop in, 1pm – 2 pm
• 7 July 2026: Virtual LMC drop in, 1pm – 2pm

Discover a world of knowledge with ALMC Learning Hub! Our monthly newsletter is your backstage pass to course updates and expert insights straight to your inbox.

Subscribe now and stay informed, you would find out what additional training will be coming up and know more about our trainers. 

• Tuesday 03 Mar General practice bulletin
• Thursday 26 Feb General practice bulletin

Date: Wednesday 1st April 2026
Time: 09:30 – 16:00
Venue: UWE Bristol

We’re excited to invite all general practice and PCN management colleagues to our annual conference – including Practice Managers, PCN Managers, Deputy and Assistant Managers, Team Managers, and anyone aspiring to these roles. 

The conference will be a dedicated space to develop your leadership, strengthen your management skills, and connect with peers. Join us for a day of updates, workshops, networking, and learning designed to support you in your role. Whether you’re new to management or highly experienced, this event is a valuable opportunity to step back, gain insight, and build connections that make a real difference.

The attached flyer contains agenda and link to register.

For further information, please contact Louise Carthy, Project Lead, at L.Carthy@nhs.net.

GatewayC are hosting a free webinar in partnership with NHS England on supporting earlier breast cancer diagnosis and managing mastalgia on 22nd April 2026 from 12:30-13:15.

We would appreciate it if you could disseminate the attached communications to your networks via email and/or include it in any upcoming bulletins that you may have.  If this information would be best circulated via another channel in your area, please do let me know.

The webinar is completely free to access, as all the GatewayC resources are, and is aimed at anyone working in primary care.  
We would greatly appreciate your support in promoting this webinar to our intended audience.  
Please do let me know if you have any queries or questions, or if you require any further information.  
Kind regards,  

Jess Keenan (she, her) hear my name
Project Manager | GatewayC
jessica.keenan2@nhs.net

Bristol GP/Primary Care Balint group is no longer meeting but is moving on-line from March ’26 in the hope of attracting more members.

Please find the attached flyer for more details.

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– LATEST TRAINING AND EVENTS –

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