There have been significant problems with support services for general practice. At the BMA's July meeting of the General Practitioners' Committee (GPC) a vote of no confidence was passed in Capita's handling of its contract to deliver Primary Care Support Services. LLR LMC and the GPC are...
I'm sharing here some tips I have learned over the years in preparing for a CQC inspection- both as a former practice manager, and from my role as Development Manager here at the LMC, assisting practices pre- and post-inspection.
Read What to expect on a GP inspection - this is essential...
You can expect to provide assurance that the registered manager is:
of good character
able to properly perform tasks that are intrinsic to their role
has the necessary qualification, competence, skills and experience to manage the regulated activity
has supplied documents that confirm their...
GPC Accelerated Access to Records Programme - October update
Following on from the guidance that GPC England (GPCE) shared with practices last Friday, we are expecting to continue dialogue with NHS England in the coming week to ascertain how practices can be best supported in the lead up to the...
Please see the information relating to the 2018/19 Indemnity settlement. GPC England and NHS England have agreed the amount to cover the increased cost of indemnity for 2018/19. This will again be £60m and be paid on a per-patient basis equivalent to £1.005 per patient. Practices and individual...
The LMC will include all the information as it prevails relating to the 2022/23 Influenza Season.
02.03.21: Reimbursable vaccines and eligible cohorts for the 2022/23 NHS Seasonal Influenza (flu) Vaccination Programme
To highlight to practices that it states the following cohorts are not...
The LMC has received many complaints about the ongoing expectation on general practices to provide reviews to children 48 hours after being admitted or being seen in ED with wheeze.
Whilst these are small numbers it is a clear indication of a commissioning gap that despite discussions for over...
Become an Appraiser
NHSE are advertising “New appraiser Training” which is scheduled for the 14th and 15th November 2018.
This creates a great opportunity for GPs to become appraisers in the Midlands.
Below is all the information and resources to apply for this opportunity.
Appraiser...
The LMC continues to be concerned regarding the invidious position that GPs are put in when patients contact a surgery expecting aftercare following private bariatric surgery whether in this country or abroad.
We have previous raised this with the ICB and will continue to do so until there is a...
CQC Themes
LLR LMC: Jan 23 CQC themes
CQC Clinical Searches webinar
The CQC has recently delivered a webinar on clinical searches which practices may wish to review and find beneficial within the practice.
Copy of CQC clinical searches webinar
RCGP Primary Care Development Services
If...
LMC Law have put together a list of things practices should consider when a new partner joins a partnership. Please note, that this is from purely a legal perspective and provides general guidance only. This is not an exhaustive list.
The patient will need to contact 119 in the first instance. They will be provided with a form that a GP/specialist will be required to complete. The practice will need to log on and record the outcome on SCRa ( https://portal.national.ncrs.nhs.uk/portal/ ).
Please note that the portal only...
DBS Checks
The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) carries out criminal record checks for specific positions, professions, employment, offices, works and licences included in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.
Practices are able to obtain employees via the...
Please find attached letter and FAQ’s with regards to the GP electronic annual practice declaration (e-Dec) for 2016/17.
The 2016/17 eDEC will be opened for submissions over a six week period: from Wednesday 09 November to Wednesday 21 December 2016. All GP practices are required to submit...
GPC response to the Home Office consultation on statutory guidance to police on firearms licensing and a flowchart to guide GPs and police through the licensing process are now available on the BMA website
We are often asked advice about what services GPs can charge their registered patients for.
The BMA have a very comprehensive Focus on Private Practice (July 2010) document which refers to the GMS regulations and provides advice about what you can and cannot charge patients for.
There is...
Once again the DHSC has issued a press release before informing practices of a new scheme. This scheme involves supplying at-risk patients with 4 months' worth of Vitamin D. Please see the full statement from the DHSC below, but in summary the LMC suggest that practices advise their...
The LMC is the only independent body with a statutory duty to represent all general practitioners. We are a democratic organisation with a governing body of representatives, elected by our members.
LMCs were first established by the National Insurance Act 1911 and has been included in the...
What is GDPR?
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union. This regulation will be effective from the 25th May 2018.
Where GP’s are concerned this applies to personal and sensitive data...
After recent concerns expressed by GPs regarding clinical requests being sent to them for patients going through the gender reassignment process, the BMA have released guidance for GPs that may be concerned on their role as a prescriber in this instance.
The guidance consists of:
Commissioning...
The Gender Pay Gap in Medicine Review was published on 16th December and can be found here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/944246/Gender_pay_gap_in_medicine_review.pdf
It is the largest review of gender pay gap in the public...
NHS Employers
The GMS Contact documents are published each year on NHS Employers Website.
NHS Employers - The GMS Contract
GMS Contract Agreement 2018 -19
GP pay and expenses
The GPC have not agreed to accept a further pay uplift of 1% this year. Instead they have agreed that from 1 April...
The NHS Long Term Plan committed £4.5 billion more for primary medical and community health services by 2023/24. This will support better care for patients outside hospital in their local communities.
NHS England and the British Medical Association’s General Practitioners Committee have agreed...
The GPC has released the following statement in regards to the GP contract negotiations for 22/23.
As you will probably be aware, despite negotiations between GPC England and NHS England about amendments to the five year contract deal agreed in 2019, NHS England announced last week that the...
NATIONAL
OFFICIAL GPCE INFO: LMC update 3 April 2024
On behalf of GPC England, I want to thank every single GP and GP registrar across the country who took part in our referendum. Let us not forget, this referendum wasn't even a ballot, it was merely a dress rehearsal for what's around the...
UPDATED JULY 2018
The GPC have produced an excellent Guidance for GPs - Partnership Agreements- it covers all the aspects of what a partnership agreement should encompass, and should enable you to refresh your agreement.
We would advise that the partnership agreement be updated each time a new...
New obligation
From October 2016, as set out in regulations, every GP practice in England will be required to submit an online return twice a year through the Primary Care Web Tool: www.primarycare.nhs.uk within a new module titled 'Biannual Extended Access'. This will set out what access to...
Following discussions with UHL, the following guidance has been agreed for processing calcium blood test results.
“The adjusted calcium assay is running with a mild negative bias (~0.05mmo/L) due to variation across the analysers. We are in the process to procure new analysers within the next...
Practices are often asked to provide letters to schools to support the organisations request, the LMC has provided some guidance to support practices on the most popular requests to inform practices of their responsibility.
We have covered the following areas:
a. School letters
School fit...
31.07.19 - Leicester City and South Coroner - Turning off fax machine
We have been informed by the Leicester City and South coroner’s office that from 1st August, they will be turning off their fax machine. All correspondence to the Leicester City and South coroner’s office including GP...
The LMC has recently received questions from practices about how to informally close their practice list. We have prepared these FAQs to assist practices.
Which practices can informally close their list of registered patients?
All practices have a contractual right to decline to register any...
ReSPECT is a national initiative being implemented by the Resuscitation Council and Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland Health and Social Care has signed up to the process and will be launching this on the 1st January 2020.
It has long been recognised that planning ahead for people with...
Launch of the 'New to Partnership Payment Scheme'
Please click here for the documentation for the 'New to Partnership Payment Scheme. The scheme will formally launch on 1st of July, and will apply to all new clinical partners from 1st of April 2020.
OCTOBER 23
We have received reports of practices receiving letters from secondary care requiring patients to be referred to a different specialist or service. In the majority of cases these referrals should be done directly by the hospital.
The agreed local protocol is attached, and the...
The locum GP handbook provides advice and guidance on all aspects of locum work, including on starting out as a locum, setting up as a business and establishing a contract for services with a provider. The handbook also provides advice to practices on recruiting locums.
The BMA salaried GPs...
The proposed implementation of the Medical Examiner service is still most likely to happen in April 2024, although we are advised that it is now more likely to be the end rather than the beginning.
We cannot publish definitive local guidance yet until the legislation and national guidance have...
Please note that guidance is available on meeting the reasonable needs of patients, which has been drafted in response to NHS England guidance issued to commissioners. It is available...
The BMA has produced guidance for both practices and locum GPs on model agreements.
The guidance provides information on a range of areas which maybe helpful to practices and locum GPs. The guidance can be found here and covers fees, timetable of work, definition of core work, additional and...
The BMA has produced the following guidance on 'Model contract for Salaried GPs'
Although there may be some differences in process in each of the four countries of the UK, the principles of this guidance apply to all.
This guidance will explain and provide advice on:
Minimum T&Cs for...
The Network DES guidance is available on this NHS England GP contract page, with a direct link here .
It includes new sections on:
Section 5: Financial entitlements, nominated payee and payment information
Section 6: Extended hours access
Section 7: Practices and PCNs crossing CCG...
The Government has introduced regulations that place a duty on registered medical practitioners to notify the coroner of certain deaths, and what information should be provided. They apply to England and Wales.
This becomes law on 1 October 2019. Read the Ministry of Justice’s guidance on...
Do you ever scratch your head when reading NHS documents? What was that TLA (Three Letter Acronym) again?
This very helpful NHS Acronym sheet has been supplied to LLR LMC by our local HealthWatch partners.
NHS England have announced a refreshed Retained Doctor Scheme
From 1 July 2016 NHSE are increasing both the money for practices employing a retained GP and the annual payments towards professional expenses for GPs on the scheme.
Practices employing a GP on this scheme will now receive...
We have been working closely with our colleagues at Leicestershire and Rutland Local Pharmaceutical Committee to minimise any issues this year, between practices and pharmacies.
We have developed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between practices and community pharmacies. This has been...
We are often asked advice by practices occupying premises owned by and rented from NHS Property Services. Many practices do not have a lease and frustrations can arise when they are asked for excessive or inaccurate services charges, or when they feel pressured into signing up to a lease.
We...
Community Health Partnership
The BMA is currently supporting 5 practices in legal proceedings against NHSPS on this same issue. These proceedings are ongoing and NHSPS have repeatedly requested extensions, but we expect a resolution soon. Until that time our guidance remains as it appears here...
Published 13th October 2023
Following on from the guidance that GPC England (GPCE) shared with practices last Friday, we are expecting to continue dialogue with NHS England in the coming week to ascertain how practices can be best supported in the lead up to the 31st October go-live date and...
All GP practices in England must ensure their staff receive training in learning disability and autism, including how to interact appropriately with people with a learning disability and autistic people. This requirement was introduced by the Health and Care Act 2022 in July last year. The...
We have recently had a number of queries about how to order MED3 forms. Practices have been told that they are not available on Primary Care Support England's (PCSE) online portal within the supplies catalogue.
Some practices were advised that the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) were...
The out of stock guidance and checklist document has been agreed (May 2020)
It has been added to to the LMSG website. It can be found under Guidelines- Guidelines by category-Shortages and Discontinuations of Medicines. The link is...
2017/18 GMS AGREEMENT FAQs
Guidance published by the BMA is available here
Any further questions, please dont hesitate to contact the LMC office on 0116 2962950 or enquiries@llrlmc.co.uk
PIP is not part of GPs contractual work – neither the initial application for assessment nor the appeals process.
Initial application for assessment:
The process appears to be sub-contracted to a company called ATOS and if ATOS believes receiving a GP report would be helpful for them in making...
The BMA has received new legal advice regarding medical note requests received from the police, which are detailed below.
Pro forma for practices
There is clear guidance regarding the obligations that GPs have with respect to copying and/or release of the GP record. For your reference, these...
Advice for practices thinking about merging and top tips.
Be prepared to eat, drink and sleep mergers but remember that the majority of your staff won’t be at the same level as you so will need to hear information many more times than you might think is reasonable! Also, be aware that if there...
Updated 18th September 2019
The BMA has provided the following guidance on Prescribing non-prescription (over the counter) medication in nurseries and schools
Non-prescription /over the counter (OTC) medication does not need a GP signature/authorisation in order for the...
NHS England and the BMA have published the following guidance on Primary Care Network DES.
Network Contract DES guidance
The LMC is working with the CCGs, NHSE, GPC and other relevant bodies, as well as Clinical Directors to support PCNs. If you have any questions, please dont hesitate to...
East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EMAS) is changing its procedures relating to deaths in the community.
This follows the implementation of NHS Pathways telephone triage system in our Emergency Operation Centres.
The attached briefing, circulated on 11 March 2024, confirms the change...
This is a brief summary to help you understand all the steps required under the GP I&R scheme in England. GP I&R scheme in England. There are a number of steps you will need to undertake to be able to register and work as a GP in the NHS.
For eligibility criteria please see the GP NRO website...
Information provided by Registration and Coroner’s Service Manager at Leicestershire Registration Service
Death Registrations with Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD)
Any death that isn’t referred to the coroner must be registered by law within five calendar days.
The Registrar...
From time-to-time practices will be asked by UKHSA to assist in vaccinations, investigations or prescribing prescriptions for families or residents in a hostel or home.
These are not included in the GP core contract.
Some services are commissioned from DHU, but otherwise the ICB will pay a...
The LMC has received several queries from member practices in regards to the requirement for COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of employment. We are looking at the best ways we can support our members practices, but at a time we are still not clear what the wording of the legislation will...
Information relating to practices claiming reimbursement costs for GPs when off sick.
Sickness cover reimbursement for GPs
We have also negotiated important beneficial changes to sickness cover reimbursement. Practices are currently at considerable financial risk of paying for sickness absence...
Generally, if the practice is receiving rent from those subletting, then it would be reasonable for the notional rent to abated. However, if this is not the case and the room is being used to provide services that are supporting the delivery of Primary care this would not be the case, though it...
Funding & charging for vaccines
In light of the changes to vaccine guidance, we have updated our guidance and would like to acknowledge Wessex LMC for sharing their guidance.
The 2020/21 contract changes saw a change to the funding arrangements for vaccination and immunisations in the GP...
In consultation with the British Medical Association (BMA), GPs have agreed to aim to accommodate D4 medical appointments for working drivers to make sure that they are available to the transport industry.
If your lorry or bus driving licence is due to expire as normal, or if you've been issued...
The Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages office are currently preparing for the next phase of death registrations for any deaths occurring in Leicestershire.
We intend to move to the electronic transfer of Medical Cause of death certificates between Surgeries, Hospitals and our service and...
The BMA supported five GP practices to bring a legal challenge against NHSPS try to clarify the legal basis for NHSPS's dramatic increases in how service charges are calculated. The BMA now continues to support the same practices to defend legal proceedings brought against them by NHSPS in...
We are all aware that practices have a difficult time when they have patients who display consistently unacceptable behavior, which is time consuming, puts a strain on staff and adds extra workload to practices. The following guidance has been developed by the LMC to reflect guidance from...
