Avon LMCs Newsletter on 08-05-24

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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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What an absolute joy to see the sun this week and experience the positive effect it can have on our mental health. Other small changes we can make to improve our wellbeing at work include:

• Having daily coffee breaks with the team
• Walking or cycling to work (e-bikes are great for hills!)
• Having a standing desk +/- a walking treadmill
• Maintaining an outside green space
• Strive for “good enough” rather than perfect

If you have any other tips to improve your wellbeing, and are willing for these to be shared, I would love to hear about them at info@almc.co.uk

I hope many of you are able to make time to attend the GPC England Roadshow on 20^th June, which will now be happening virtually to allow maximum uptake. We have decided to delay the Avon LMC Members’ event to September 2024 to coincide with our AGM – watch this space for more details.

Dr Shaba Nabi
Chair Avon LMC

The GPCE roadshow will now be taking place virtually on this day to allow maximum participation from BNSSG, Gloucestershire and Somerset. This will be a tremendous opportunity to hear from the Chair of GPC England, Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, as well as ask questions about the future direction of travel for general practice.

Please add this date to your diary and more details about sign-up will be shared in future.

Avon LMC has produced a brief guide to what practices need to be doing to fulfil the requirements of the supplementary services contract. This can be found here.

Read the latest GPC England bulletin here.

The free EAP is available to all BNSSG non-clinical and clinical staff and is fully funded until February 2025. It provides support to staff facing personal or work-related challenges that may affect their wellbeing, job performance, or overall quality of life. To access this support or find out more:

• call the free 24 hour confidential helpline on 0800 028 0199 and quote the organisation code MHA288949
• visit Wisdom and log in using the above code to access to a range of wellbeing tools, resources, or the live chat
• download the Wisdom App from the Apple Store or Google Play and use the above code
• visit the Wellbeing for primary care staff Teamnet pages for more information and to download posters for your practice

Please share with all staff. For more information please contact Tailte.breffni@onecare.org.uk

Question: I’ve just had a letter from my child’s school asking parents to obtain a doctor’s letter if their child is too unwell to sit their exams this summer. I am worried this will increase the workload for us in general practice.

Answer: Providing information for schools about pupils who are absent from exams is not an NHS service, so practices may charge for doing so. However, the GPC wrote to Ofqual to get the official stance.  The response from Ofqual states:

“Awarding Organisations make no requirement for pupils to obtain a medical certificate in support of an application for special consideration. Students are asked for information in support of their application, but this may take the form of a statement by the school.  The Joint Council of Qualifications (JCQ) has confirmed that as far as they are concerned, if a student was absent from an examination as a result of illness and has the support of the school or centre to be absent, special consideration will be granted in that basis.  Awarding Organisations do not insist that medical proof is provided.”

• Thursday 2 May General practice bulletin (mailchi.mp)
• Tuesday 7 May General practice bulletin (mailchi.mp)

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– LATEST TRAINING AND EVENTS –

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