Welcome
Welcome to the May edition of the NHS South Yorkshire Primary Care Bulletin.
We wanted to share a couple of key topics discussed at the recent Primary Care Provider Alliance meeting.
Firstly, Rheumatology referral pathways are being reviewed through the Clinical Network Group of the Acute Federation, which is seeing local arrangements being assessed against national rheumatology guidance. Potential improvements have been identified which could be made to align the service across South Yorkshire to improve consistency, including proposing that all referrals will come in via an Electronic Referral system. This will involve a standardised pro former, adopting the British Society of Rheumatology referral guidance, which gives clear guidance on which patients should and should not be referred which can be added to clinical systems within Primary Care. The standardisation will assist with training and there are a recommended set of investigations, which can be performed before referral. LMCs in each place will be asked to review and agree the changes prior to roll out.
We also discussed the Oliver McGowan Training, the government’s recommended training for health and social care staff to undertake as part of their requirement to ensure we all receive learning disability and autism training appropriate to our role. The requirement is set out in the Health and Care Act 2022 and will be monitored via CQC inspections. The group raised concerns about the time commitment required to complete the training and felt that it is not proportionate to the needs of primary care, taking people away from the clinical coal face in a disproportionate way to their existing skillset and professional training.
Your views on all these issues are welcome and can be fed in through your place representative on the Provider alliance.
Anthony Fitzgerald, Executive Place Director for Doncaster and Executive Lead for Primary Care, NHS South Yorkshire
Dr Andy Hilton, Chair, NHS South Yorkshire Primary Care Alliance
Items covered in this edition include:
- Publication of the infected blood inquiry final report
- South Yorkshire awarded £3.5m to support people to stay and progress in work
- Hepatitis C GP work
- Smokefree Starts campaign
- NHS South Yorkshire and housing partnership tackles asthma symptoms in children
- NHS South Yorkshire IT newsletter
- Pharmacy First Newsletter
- News from the SY Primary Care Workforce & Training Hub
- Notifiable Diseases
- AO Guidelines
- Death certification reforms
- Pertussis alert - comms to public and midwives
- Update on GP Connect: Update Record
- South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw (SYB) Colorectal Diseases Meeting Reminder
- Governance maturity matrix workshop
- FND ECHO Learning Session
- ReSPECT ECHO QI sessions
NEWS UPDATES
Publication of the infected blood inquiry final report
This week, the Infected Blood Inquiry published its final report at: www.infectedbloodinquiry.org.uk/reports. The Prime Minister has subsequently issued an apology on behalf of successive Governments and the entire British state. Read more here. NHS England » Publication of the infected blood inquiry final report
South Yorkshire awarded £3.5m to support people to stay and progress in work
South Yorkshire has been awarded more than £3.5m to become one of 15 pilot areas across England to help long-term sick and disabled people into work.
The region was selected by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) as part of the Government’s Back to Work Plan, WorkWell.
WorkWell will build on the successes of South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority’s flagship programme, Working Win, that has supported over 6,500 people with a disability or physical and or mental health condition to either start, stay, or succeed in employment since 2018.
Read more here South Yorkshire awarded £3.5m to support people to stay and progress in work :: South Yorkshire I.C.B (icb.nhs.uk)
Hepatitis C GP work
Did you know Hepatitis C has a 95% cure rate with modern antiviral treatment? NHS England has a national aim of eliminating hepatitis C as a public health threat in the UK by 2030.
GP Champions take an active role in Hep C case finding in primary care, as well as the clinical education of colleagues and supporting patients into care.
https://www.hepculater.com/professionals/general-practice/
The department of Infectious Diseases are looking for 1 or 2 GP champions to work in the Doncaster, Barnsley and Rotherham areas. This is a flexible, paid role, of between 2-4 sessions per month.
To express an interest / find out more, email either;
Anthony Bains, Hepatitis C Operational Delivery Network Manager
Dr Chris Bronsdon
Hepatitis C Champion, Sheffield
Smokefree Starts campaign
The first Smokefree Starts campaign has now launched in South Yorkshire as part of Mental Health Awareness Week. Smokefree starts is a partnership between all four local authorities within South Yorkshire and NHS South Yorkshire. The aim of the campaign is to increase understanding of the impact of smoking on mental health and encourage smokers to try to quit once more.
Read more about the campaign here: Everyone knows that smoking is bad for your physical health but what about the impact on your mental health? :: South Yorkshire I.C.B (icb.nhs.uk)
Website: There is a Smokefree Starts website that signposts people to the local support available in their area with all the relevant contact information www.Smokefreestarts.co.uk
Leaflets and posters: Leaflets and posters for each area are available on the www.Smokefreestarts.co.uk website in English, Arabic, Punjabi, Polish, Slovak, Urdu, Roma, Romani, Kurdish, Romanian and Mandarin.
Recommended GP text messages: Stopping smoking could improve your mental health. Start your journey to becoming smokefree. Call (add in local number) & book an appointment with a stop-smoking advisor.
Social media: Please could you also follow our Smokefree Starts on social media channels and share our content on your accounts.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559133284256
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smokefreestarts/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Smokefreestarts
NHS South Yorkshire and housing partnership tackles asthma symptoms in children
South Yorkshire Children and Young People’s Alliance have teamed up with Berneslai Homes, who manage properties for Barnsley Council, to ensure children and young people with asthma who live in a Berneslai Homes property, have the best possible health outcomes.
Read more here NHS South Yorkshire and housing partnership tackles asthma symptoms in children :: South Yorkshire I.C.B (icb.nhs.uk)
NHS South Yorkshire IT newsletter
Please find a link to the latest IT Newsletter Digital Data & Technology - IT-newsletter---May-2024-.pdf - All Documents (sharepoint.com)
Pharmacy First Newsletter
Please follow this link to the latest South Yorkshire Pharmacy First Newsletter.
News from the SY Primary Care Workforce & Training Hub
Please follow this link for news and information from the SY Primary Care Workforce & Training Hub.
PRACTICE SUPPORT
Notifiable Diseases
Please find here a letter re notifiable diseases from Dr Hamish McLure, Regional Medical Director & Higher Level RO, NHS England – North East and Yorkshire and Dr Andrew Lee, Regional Deputy Director, Health Protection – Yorkshire & the Humber, UKHSA for your attention.
AO Guidelines
Further
to the discussion about AO guidelines at the relevant SYBCA Clinical Delivery Group meeting, this is the link to the UKONS guidelines for Acute Oncology management during the first 24hrs of care; UKONS | Acute Oncology Initial Management Guidelines (sundownsolutions.co.uk)
Please note the local network Metastatic Spinal Cord Compression Referral and Management Guidelines are to be used instead of #9 UKONS guidance.
Metastatic spinal cord compression - referral and management in Acute Oncology
The list of appendices from the guidance are also here.
Sent on behalf of the Weston Park Cancer Centre, STH.
Death certification reforms
The government has confirmed that from Monday 9 September, all deaths in any health setting that are not investigated by a coroner will be reviewed by a medical examiner. The changes form part of the death certification reforms. Providers will be required to share records of deceased patients with medical examiner offices.
Death certification reform and the introduction of medical examiners - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Pertussis alert - comms to public and midwives
Please find the link to the updated UKHSA guidance: Guidance on the management of cases of pertussis during high activity (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Colleagues can find latest UKHSA data here: Confirmed cases of pertussis in England by month - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
In South Yorkshire it has practices are encouraged to use the Healthier Together website as a way to circulate messages to the public. The following content has been created:
Update on GP Connect: Update Record
Positive Solutions HxConsult system for community pharmacy service delivery went live with Update Record on Wednesday 15 May 2024. This adds to the community pharmacies using Cegedim Healthcare Solutions who launched Update Record at the start of April 2024. Both suppliers will now flow a post consultation message to the patient’s GP clinical system for the following services: Blood Pressure, Oral Contraception, Pharmacy First (Minor Illness and Clinical Pathways Services).
Developments continue with EMIS Health (PharmOutcomes) and Sonar; who will roll out Update Record as they receive approval for each of their services.
As only 2 of the 4 pharmacy system suppliers are currently live with GP Connect Update record practice teams need to be aware that information regarding pharmacy services may still be coming through NHS mail from some pharmacies until all the system suppliers are live. Please continue to check NHS mail.
Key facts:
- Information shared via Update Record is the same information that is currently sent as a PDF via NHS mail, the change is messages flow in a structured format which; speeds up inclusion into the patient record, reduces burden for general practice teams and eliminates transcription errors.
- For further information about the digital capability refer to the guidance: GP Connect: Update Record - NHS England Digital.
The Pharmacy First Digital Implementation team will share updates as supplier products receive national approval.
EVENTS & TRAINING
South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw (SYB) Colorectal Diseases Meeting Reminder
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and Sheffield University would like to invite South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw GPs to the inaugural South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw (SYB) Colorectal Diseases Meeting.
- Tuesday 25 June
- Asseal New York Stadium, Rotherham, S60 1FJ
This year's event will bring together experts from primary care, secondary care, nursing and other disciplines to tackle the second biggest cancer killer in our region – Colorectal cancer.
The event will focus on enhancing early bowel cancer detection and discuss the unique challenges that we face in both primary and secondary care. This will also be an excellent opportunity to network with colleagues and collectively shape future directions in tackling colorectal cancer locally.
This event is being made possible thanks to a generous charitable donation from the local Sikh community. As spaces for this event are limited (150 fully-funded places), we kindly ask that you only register if able to attend.
To see the full agenda and to register, simply click on this link. https://canceralliancesyb.co.uk/test-area/south-yorkshire-and-bassetlaw-colorectal-diseases-meeting-pathways-impact-bowel-cancer.
Governance maturity matrix workshop
Do you employ advanced practitioners? If so, did you know that you are required to adopt the Governance maturity matrix assessment tool to ensure your practitioners are governed and you have assurance of their practice for CQC inspections? Also, you are required to have started this to access funding for future trainee ACPs.
There is a workshop about this on:
- Thursday 6 June 2024
- 09.30 – 12.00
- Don Valley house, Sheffield
FND ECHO Learning Session
Please find below details of the next FND ECHO Learning Session available to health and social care professionals across South Yorkshire & Bassetlaw, via Zoom.
- FND – A Patient’s Journey
- Tuesday 4 June 2024
- 10 -11.30am
- BOOK HERE: https://bit.ly/FNDapatientsjourney
ReSPECT ECHO QI sessions
Please find details below of the next two ReSPECT ECHO QI sessions in May and July.
- ReSPECT & The Ambulance Service:
- Thursday 30 May 2024
- 1-2.30pm
- BOOK HERE: https://bit.ly/3PkNiLV
- ReSPECT & Advanced Care Planning:
- Thursday 11 July 2024
- 1.00-2.30pm
- BOOK HERE: https://bit.ly/3ID8bhy
