Welcome
Happy New Year to all of our primary care colleagues.
It’s been a difficult start to the year in primary care with the recent industrial action as well as dealing with high levels of flu and other viruses so thank you for everything you are doing to see patients during this time.
In this January edition of the NHS South Yorkshire Primary Care Bulletin we have items on our South Yorkshire Start with People Strategy, Sheffield's first Inclusion Health Summit, the new £15 million Doncaster Orthopaedic Surgery Centre, the NHS Talking Therapies campaign as well as some events and training opportunities.
Please get in touch if you have any feedback on the bulletin or if you any suggestions for future articles.
Dr David Crichton Chief Medical Officer, NHS South Yorkshire
Dr Andy Hilton, Chair, NHS South Yorkshire Primary Care Alliance
Dr David Crichton Dr Andy Hilton
NEWS UPDATES
Help us to refresh the South Yorkshire Start with People Strategy
To make our services the best they can be we need to hear from and work with the people who use them. To achieve this we involve our citizens in a number of different ways.
We are required to have a document (or Strategy) that explains how and why we will involve citizens. In South Yorkshire it is called: Start with People: South Yorkshire.
We wrote it over a year ago and a lot has changed since then so we are asking staff, citizens and partners to give us their views to help update our Strategy.
Find out more and have your say here Help us to refresh the South Yorkshire Start with People Strategy :: South Yorkshire I.C.B (icb.nhs.uk)
The Independent Prescribing in Community Pharmacy ‘Pathfinder’ Programme
NHS England has published information on its Independent Prescribing Pathfinder programme for community pharmacy. In September 23 NHS South Yorkshire announced that we would be hosting 10 Pathfinder sites. This will enable us to test the different ways that independent prescribing in community pharmacy will benefit patients. It is also a great opportunity for us to work together to redesign pathways and increase the use of the clinical skills within community pharmacy, informing the future of community pharmacy commissioning and ensuring that pharmacists will be able to utilise their prescribing qualification whilst working in the community pharmacy sector.
The community pharmacies selected as SY IP Pathfinder sites will be in contact with their local GP practice(s) over the next few weeks to discuss the IP Pathfinder in greater detail.
This will be an iterative process and require engagement and involvement from both practices, pharmacies and the ICB to realise the longer term benefits. This is a pathfinder programme, we are not looking to roll out an existing service or to pilot a new service. Using independent prescribing as an NHS service within community pharmacy is novel. There will at times be ambiguity, issues and barriers to overcome and we will not instantly have all the answers. We will need to work together, in partnership to seek answers or solutions.
We hope that practice colleagues recognise that despite all the current challenges within the whole of primary care this is a great opportunity to work together to influence and inform future commissioning that benefits our patients, practices and pharmacies.
Sheffield's first Inclusion Health Summit
Sheffield held its first Inclusion Health Summit on Wednesday 10 January at The Circle. It was attended by nearly 50 people, spanning a range of strategic and operational services, with expertise, knowledge and lived experience.
We were honoured to be joined by an inspirational national guest speaker – Professor Bola Owolabi, Director of Health Inequalities, NHS England (who is also a practising GP), who passionately set the scene on why Inclusion Health matters and its importance across health and care. She reinforced the message that all ICSs have a national imperative to address health inequalities, which is accompanied by significant funding, to help those on the extreme margins of our society to access the care and support they need, when they need it. Bola’s mantra is to turn Policy into Practice; Analysis into Action and Rhetoric into Reality.
To read more about the Sheffield Inclusion Health Sumit click here: Sheffield's first Inclusion Health Summit
New £15 million Orthopaedic Surgery Centre welcomes its first patients
The Mexborough Elective Orthopaedic Centre of Excellence (MEOC) welcomes its first patients this month.
The MEOC is part of a national initiative to reduce waiting lists and will be one of two orthopaedic surgical hubs sponsored by the South Yorkshire Integrated Care System (ICS). The project was delivered following investment of just under £15 million, with construction beginning in July and completed in December 2023.
The service will operate 50 weeks a year, starting as a five day a week service, increasing to six days once running to full capacity, expected by mid-2024. It is anticipated that knee and hip replacement patients will be able to go home the same day as their surgery, in line with national best practices.
Find out more here: New £15 million Orthopaedic Surgery Centre draws a final step closer to welcoming its first patients next week :: South Yorkshire I.C.B (icb.nhs.uk)
PRACTICE SUPPORT
Supporting HC2 application for asylum seekers
An HC2 certificate entitles individuals to free NHS prescriptions and other healthcare. Our guidance improves the
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/guidance-to-support-hc2-application-for-asylum-seekers/
It sets out the background and eligibility to the certificate, provides advice on seeking treatment before a certificate has been issued and how to renew a certificate.
Click here to view the HC2 application for asylum seekers item:
NHS Talking Therapies campaign launched
As you may have seen, a new mental health campaign launched this week urging more people to sign up for help they might need through the NHS Talking Therapies service.
As part of a pilot programme across the country, the NHS is also supporting people back into work with 40,000 people already being linked up with employment advisors to support them back into work with research showing that employment can help improve symptoms of anxiety or depression.
Once individuals are signed up to the service, the NHS ensures that employment advisors are on hand to offer help with writing CVs, setting career goals, and giving them the confidence to apply for vacancies.
As you will know, employment and mental health are closely linked, and research shows employment support from an adviser, alongside therapy, can help improve symptoms of anxiety and depression.
By March next year, every person accessing NHS Talking Therapies will be offered the chance to benefit from employment advice.
For more information you can read the news item here Mental Health Support - NHS Talking Therapies :: South Yorkshire I.C.B (icb.nhs.uk)
You can also access digital A4 posters here Poster 1 and Poster 2. You can also share our social media posts on the NHS South Yorkshire facebook and twitter accounts.
Role of incentive schemes in general practice
The Government is seeking views on the role of incentives in general practice.
The consultation is divided into 3 sections:
- feedback on the role and nature of any incentive scheme in general practice, with a focus on the current scope of the QOF and the IIF
- comments on possible changes in scope of incentive schemes beyond clinical indicators
- input on reducing the administrative burden associated with the schemes and enhancing the clinician’s experience of delivering it
This consultation aims to gather diverse views and is open to all stakeholders, including healthcare professionals, patient groups and the wider public.
This consultation closes at 11:59pm on 7 March 2024.
For more information and to have your say visit: Role of incentive schemes in general practice - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Events and Training
SYB Colorectal Study Day Survey
At the South Yorkshire & Bassetlaw Cancer Alliance Primary Care Clinical Delivery Group in December, Dr Matt Kurien and colleagues at STH shared that they would like to facilitate a SYB Colorectal Study Day for Primary Care colleagues which is due to be arranged for June 2024.
To support development of relevant topics and content for the day, Matt and colleagues would welcome your answers to the short questionnaire available here to ensure the session meets your requirements, the survey can be accessed here https://forms.office.com/e/sRj1hWugA8and and will remain open until the 31 January 2024.
Thank you in advance for your contributions.
Primary Care Cold Chain Learning Lunch
You are invited to a Learning Lunch with the NHS England Public Health Programmes Team (formally Screening and Immunisation Team) on:
-
Wednesday 14 February 2024
- 12pm-1pm
- On Microsoft Teams
Join on your computer, mobile app or room device (no need to register just click the following link)
Click here to join the meeting
Meeting ID: 392 825 720 216
Passcode: 7RNA4v
We will cover:
- Cold chain
- Licensed/unlicensed – On/Off label vaccines
- Stability data – risk assessment
- Learning from incidents
- Resources
Following the session, on completion of an MS feedback form and supplying your email, a certificate for the 1 hour session will be issued for your continuing professional development. The link will be provided in the Teams chat box at the end of the presentation.
Best Practice London Conference
The next conference and exhibition from Best Practice brand is on Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 February at Olympia, London. It is the largest gathering of general practice HCPs from within London and the South-East, and it is free to attend.
For full information and to register please click here:
Haematology for Primary Care
The programme for the upcoming virtual CPD Oxford day - Haematology for Primary Care on 23 Feb - is now available.
The day will be led by haematology consultants based at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, with a focus on haematology problems encountered in primary care. There will also be opportunity for questions and discussions with the various speakers throughout the day.
Programme and booking information can be found here www.cpdoxford.com/booking
General
South Yorkshire Cardiac Clinical Network Newsletter
The latest edition of the South Yorkshire Cardiac Clinical Network Newsletter (December) can be viewed here.
This monthly newsletter is one of a number of ways that the Network provides updates, guidance, training and development opportunities. It is also used to advertise any opportunities locally and nationally that you may want to get involved in. We want to make sure it is a useful resource for everyone, so please do provide feedback and let us know what else would be helpful to include in future editions. Please also share with any colleagues who may be interested.
