Welcome
Welcome to the November edition of the NHS South Yorkshire Primary Care Bulletin.
Following Remembrance weekend earlier this month, we wanted to take this opportunity to share an update on our progress regarding the RCGP Veteran Friendly Accreditation Scheme.
NHS England’s goal was to achieve 100% PCN coverage with at least one accredited practice by earlier this year which I’m pleased to report we have achieved.
Uptake this year has also been remarkable, and we’re currently at 86% accreditation across practices in South Yorkshire. There has also been some positive feedback about how the programme has enhanced practices understanding of resources and services available to the Armed Forces community and has helped address health inequalities.
Also we wanted to mention the government’s ‘red tape challenge’ which is looking at ways to cut down on bureaucracy and free up GPs’ time. If you are interested in feeding back any ideas or best practice case studies, please see the details below.
We hope you enjoy this month’s primary care bulletin. As always, please get in touch if you have any questions, suggestions or comments.
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:
- Barnsley Council and NHS South Yorkshire ICB Announce the Appointment of Katy Calvin-Thomas as Executive Director for Place, Health, and Adult Social Care
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Change NHS: help build a health service fit for the future
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Award winners across NHS South Yorkshire at the Nursing Times Awards 2024
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Survey: Help NHS South Yorkshire develop an Early Pregnancy Loss service
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South Yorkshire leaders to consider full business case for reopening Doncaster-Sheffield Airport
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Haematology Partnership Programme Update
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Important information from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals about Non Obstetric Ultrasound results reporting for Barnsley and Rotherham patients.
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Children’s COVID vaccination clinics at Sheffield Children’s Hospital
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Updated Mpox action cards
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Topiramate information for primary care
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Information Note: Acute Management of Potential Adverse Treatment Effects of Lecanemab
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Red Tape Challenge – Get Involved
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Advanced Clinical Practitioners Training
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Opportunity to share your views: How might referral decision-making in primary care be supported to enable faster diagnosis of brain tumours
NEWS
Barnsley Council and NHS South Yorkshire ICB Announce the Appointment of Katy Calvin-Thomas as Executive Director for Place, Health, and Adult Social Care
NHS South Yorkshire are thrilled to announce Katy Calvin-Thomas's appointment as the Executive Director for Place, Health, and Adult Social Care. This significant joint role shared between Barnsley Council and the ICB combines the duties of Barnsley Council’s Director of Adult Social Care with the strategic responsibilities of the ICB Executive Place Director for Barnsley.
Read more here:
Change NHS: help build a health service fit for the future
We know you are working harder than ever to get services back on track, yet too often we are struggling to provide the right care, in the right place and at the right time. This is no good for patients or for anyone working in the NHS.
Change is needed and many of the solutions we need are already here, working somewhere in the NHS today.
Whether you have a little to say or a lot, your views, experiences and ideas will shape the immediate steps and long-term changes through the 10-Year Health Plan for the NHS.
Together we can fix it and we want you to get involved:
1) Join our staff interactive online events on MS Teams - register at changenhs.staffevents.co.uk
We are running 15 events through November and December focussed on the three big shifts in healthcare to make the NHS fit for the future, moving it from:
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Hospital to community
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Analogue to digital
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Sickness to prevention
2) Submit your ideas and feedback through the 10 year health plan online portal - go to change.nhs.uk
Award winners across NHS South Yorkshire at the Nursing Times Awards 2024
The pre
stigious Nursing Times Awards give recognition to the brilliant nursing work that happens around the country. Of the 25 categories NHS South Yorkshire teams and individuals won 4 awards. Read more here: https://southyorkshire.icb.nhs.uk/news/4-awards-across-nhs-south-yorkshire-nursing-times-awards-2024?newsID=
Survey: Help NHS South Yorkshire develop an Early Pregnancy Loss service
NHS South Yorkshire is developing a service to provide psychological support for people who have experienced pregnancy loss during the first 20 weeks of their pregnancy.
Read more here:
Survey: Help NHS South Yorkshire develop an Early Pregnancy Loss service :: South Yorkshire I.C.B
South Yorkshire leaders to consider full business case for reopening Doncaster-Sheffield Airport
South Yorkshire Leaders will be considering a report on the Business Case for South Yorkshire Airport City which could see commercial flights departing from the former Doncaster-Sheffield Airport (DSA) in Spring 2026.
Read more here:
For the attention of Rotherham and Barnsley only: Haematology Partnership Programme Update
Please find attached an update bout the Haematology Partnership Programme, on behalf of Sally Kilgariff, Chief Operating Officer, The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust and Lorraine Burnett, Chief Operating Officer, Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
PRIMARY CARE SUPPORT
Important information from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals about Non Obstetric Ultrasound results reporting for Barnsley and Rotherham patients.
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are currently being supported in delivery of non obstetric ultrasound by colleagues at Rotherham and Barnsley NHS Trusts to enable patients to be seen as quickly as possible. If you have requested that a patient receive an ultrasound scan and are unable to locate the results, please ensure that you are also checking ICE Open Net as reports from Rotherham and Barnsley will be located here. For any queries you may have please contact: David Marshall, Imaging Performance Lead on david.marshall14@nhs.net
Children’s COVID vaccination clinics at Sheffield Children’s Hospital
Sheffield Children’s Hospital is hosting COVID vaccination clinics for children aged 6 months to 4-year-olds in a clinical risk group.
Appointments are currently available during November, with more dates added soon. All appointments will take place at Sheffield Children’s Hospital.
Children do not need to be under the care of Sheffield Children’s to be eligible for the vaccine.
GP Surgeries are advised to provide the booking link to appropriate patients. Please direct any enquiries to caroline.mccaffrey1@nhs.net.
Updated Mpox action cards
Please see the link below for the updated action cards as part of the NHS response to the outbreak of Clade I Mpox. These action cards have been updated in line with the updated information published by UKHSA.
The Primary care action card is slide number 4 mpox-pathway-action-cards-v2.3.pdf
Topiramate information for primary care
In June, the MHRA introduced new safety measures for the prescribing of topiramate. The new measures mean that a pregnancy prevention programme should be followed for any women of childbearing age prescribed topiramate.
Guidance is currently being developed to support colleagues across SY. Please see the following information for primary care.
Information Note: Acute Management of Potential Adverse Treatment Effects of Lecanemab
Please find here an information note from NHS England to support local system awareness of the launch of lecanemab (Leqembi®).
Red Tape Challenge – Get Involved
As you will know the government has launched a ‘red tape challenge’ to cut down on bureaucracy and free up GPs’ time.
NHS England are collating examples of best practice and case studies so please share anything you have with england.redtapechallenge2024@nhs.net
You can also join one of the 5 enabler working groups – read more about them and indicate your preferred group here. Please note that the deadline has passed but usually there is opportunity to join these groups after closing dates for anyone who is keen to do so.
You can also complete this short Survey and share with others in your network.
If you would like to discuss anything specific with the team, please contact us at england.redtapechallenge2024@nhs.net
Events and Training
Advanced Clinical Practitioners Training
If you are a primary care employer in South Yorkshire interested in Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP) training for an existing member of staff or recruiting to an ACP post please see this leaflet.
For more information, please contact Sarah Fisher, Professional ACP Lead at NHS South Yorkshire on sarahfisher2@nhs.net.
Additional Information
Opportunity to share your views: How might referral decision-making in primary care be supported to enable faster diagnosis of brain tumours?
Laura Standen, PhD student at Queen Mary University of London is carrying out some research around how referral decision-making in primary care might be supported to enable faster diagnosis of brain tumours.
She is interested in hearing from GPs and nurse practitioners who are working in primary care to have a discussion on triage for brain imaging, in particular around support tools such as cognitive tests or blood tests.
The discussion will be on Zoom and last around 40 minutes. The discussions will be audio-recorded to accurately recall what was said, but confidentiality and anonymity will be ensured. A £60 retail voucher is offered as a thank you for participants’ time.
