Avon LMCs Newsletter on 16/09/2026

The ALMC Newsletter

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

– Latest News –

Chair’s Blog

I want to take this opportunity to remind GP colleagues across BNSSG about the Avon LMC Benevolent Fund.

The Fund exists to provide financial assistance to GPs and their families in our patch who are experiencing hardship or difficult circumstances. It is an important part of the support that our local profession can provide to one another.

Financial difficulties can arise for all sorts of reasons. Illness, bereavement, relationship breakdown, caring responsibilities, unexpected financial pressures or changes in personal circumstances can all have a significant impact. Sometimes a relatively modest amount of financial support can make a real difference at a particularly difficult time.

I would also encourage practice managers, partners, LMC representatives and colleagues to think about a GP colleague they know might benefit from the Fund.

Further information about the Avon LMC Benevolent Fund, including eligibility and how to apply, is available through the LMC office.

We talk a lot about supporting the wellbeing and resilience of the GP workforce. In a world of cost-of-living crises our workforce is not immune to the wider financial challenges facing society.
Scroll to the bottom to find this week’s dad joke.

Lee Salkeld
Chair: Avon LMC

LAST CHANCE: Complete the Collective Action Survey

Help us to help you — make sure your practice has its say.
If your practice has not yet completed the Collective Action Survey on shared care prescribing, this is your last week to respond.
It is vital that we achieve maximum engagement from practices. A strong response from practices across Avon will give the LMC the clear mandate it needs to pursue coordinated collective action.
We are asking practices to:

Review the SBAR provided in the survey
Discuss the options within your practice
Record your practice’s preferred approach

? Complete the survey here:
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/mhedtMjcHe

Artificial Intelligence and Patient Complaints

Practices across the country are reporting a noticeable increase in lengthy complaints, Subject Access Requests (SARs), and associated correspondence which appear to have been generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
The concern is not so much the existence of complaints themselves, but the workload associated with responding to documents that can run to several pages and contain multiple allegations.
This is likely to become a wider issue as AI makes it very easy to convert a relatively straightforward concern into a detailed and time-consuming piece of correspondence, with much of the burden then falling on the practice.

Gloucestershire LMC has very helpfully shared some guidance for their practices to add to their websites and are happy for this to be used within the BNNSG area. You can find this here

Practices using AI for complaints management

AI can be a useful tool for practices when preparing responses to patient complaints, for example by helping to structure a response, improve clarity and tone, or identify issues that may need addressing. NHS guidance recognises the potential for AI to support complaints handling and administrative work.
However, AI should assist rather than replace the practice’s complaints process. The investigation, clinical judgement, conclusions and decision about any action remain the responsibility of the practice. Any AI-generated content must be reviewed by an appropriately authorised member of the practice team before being used in a response.
Safeguards required:

Confidentiality and Information Governance requirements met
No identifiable patient information entered
Appropriate data protection within AI platform

BMA Focus on Semaglutide in General Practice

NICE has recommended semaglutide for CVD risk reduction in adults with established cardiovascular disease and a BMI ? 27.
As the population cohort is large and titration takes up to 16 weeks, GPC England has recommended that this cannot be passed to general practice without appropriate commissioning and funding.
You can the full report here.

You asked, we said

Question: A patient has asked us to refer them to multiple hospital specialists following consultation with a private, non-UK based genetics sequencing company. The lengthy report did not find anything of significance but has still made these recommendations. Are we obliged to refer?
Answer:
There is joint RCGP/BSGM/RPS guidance on direct-to-consumer genetic testing (DTC-GT) which can be summarised as follows:

Healthcare professionals should not take at face value, or attempt to interpret, reports from non-accredited laboratories or third-party interpretation services
Patients presenting with DTC-GT results to healthcare professionals should be offered the same NHS care as those who have not had DTC-GT
DTC-GT results should not affect access to treatment(s) that are not commissioned for that indication within the NHS

Additionally, we would highlight the NHS principles of separation; that when a patient chooses to go private, they should anticipate that they will receive the full episode of care from that private provider and must pay for those episodes of care in their entirety.
More information on the GP-Private Interface can be found on our website.

Avon LMC Director of Nursing Contributes to Parliamentary Report on Primary Care

Last week, Kim Ball, Director of Nursing, attended the Parliamentary launch of First Point of Care: A Plan for a Better NHS Front Door Through Connected Primary Care. Alongside her local leadership role, Kim works nationally as the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) UK Professional Lead for Primary Care.
Key recommendations from the report are:

Set a national Primary Care Access Standard across primary care.
Make inclusive registration the norm for underserved groups.
Strengthen continuity of care, especially for complex and long-term conditions.
Integrate digital systems and information sharing across health and social care.
Expand digital access while protecting telephone and face-to-face routes.
Invest in primary and community care to shift care closer to home.
Improve workforce planning and use skills more effectively.
Strengthen primary care’s voice in ICB and neighbourhood leadership.

Read the full report here.

GPC England’s update to LMCs 4 September

This can be found here

BNSSG HPV Vaccine Project – Communications Campaign based on youth-led ideas (for 16-24 years)

For awareness, a BNSSG-wide local communications campaign will launch in September 2026 to promote the HPV catch-up vaccination offer for local young people aged 16-24 years.

The campaign is part of the BNSSG HPV Vaccine Project, funded through NHS England Vaccination Access and Inequalities funding via the BNSSG Integrated Vaccination Programme and led by Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Councils.

The campaign has been co-developed with insights from local young people, and will include:

· HPV Health Ambassadors attending local Freshers’ Fairs events at colleges in BNSSG this September.

Targeted social media activity (a digital toolkit will be shared with stakeholders for social media assets)
Local bus advertising and other promotional communications.

Individuals aged 16 – 24 are being encouraged through this campaign / communications to check their vaccination record if they are unsure if they missed the HPV vaccine via GP practice and to book for the GP catch up-offer if missed (signposting for more information to HPV vaccine – NHS). Some campaign communications will mention the use of the NHS App (where available).

The Avon Local Medical Committee have been part of the project and a case study for more information is available here:

Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire HPV vaccine project: young people’s ideas for raising awareness of the HPV vaccine catch up offer to local 16 to 24-year-olds | Local Government Association

GP Research participants needed – Recorded, simulated consultations and interview (4 hours work, £408 reimbursement)

“Researchers at the University of Bristol are inviting expressions of interest from fully qualified GPs to take part in a study exploring the quality and safety of Ambient Voice Technologies (AVTs) in primary care. The study will focus on a type of AVT called an Artificial Intelligence (AI) scribe that audio records a consultation and then writes medical notes for doctors.

Participating GPs will be filmed consulting with six standardised actor patients at a local GP surgery and then interviewed about their views on AI use in primary care.

The total time commitment is up to 4 hours, and participants will be reimbursed at £102 per hour (total £408). Consultation recordings will occur on weekends when the surgery is closed to the public. Interviews can be conducted at a time convenient for you and the researcher.

Details of what the study will involve if you choose to participate can be found here: https://aisafegp.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/files/2026/09/WP1-GP-Participant-Information-Leaflet-1_1.pdf

To register your interest, please follow this link: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/kvDpEnPMVJ

If you have any questions, please email the Chief Investigator, Dr Peter Edwards peter.edwards@bristol.ac.uk or visit the study website: https://aisafegp.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/plain-english-summary/

Recordings will take place on Saturdays 17th, 24th and 31st October at Grange Road Surgery, Grange Road, Bristol, BS13 8LD. Free parking is available on site.

– LATEST TRAINING AND EVENTS –

Trauma-informed de-escalation training

We recognise that healthcare professionals are often working under immense pressure and are frequently responding to genuine threats and highly challenging situations.

This half-day training course combines Trauma-Informed Care, Nervous System Awareness, and Relationship-Based Practice.

Understanding our own survival responses is just as important as understanding those of the people we support.

Through discussion, reflection, practical examples, and real-life scenarios, you’ll gain skills that are immediately applicable to your day-to-day work.

For further information, and to book in for the sessions:

Thurs 8 Oct AM The Park Centre, S Gloucestershire

Thurs 8 Oct PM The Park Centre, S Gloucestershire

Fri 9 Oct PM 100 Temple Street, Bristol

Fri 16 Oct AM The Campus, N Somerset

Fri 16 Oct PM The Campus, N Somerset

Dad joke:

I was going to tell a sodium joke, then I thought, “Na.”

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