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...
Coding for flu and CQRS
NHS England (Central and Midlands) have pulled information together to support practices in getting their GP Extraction Services (GPES) data / CQRS flu payments as accurate as possible. This year it’s in the form of a power point slide set and covers:
Snomed / Dual...
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...
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...
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 LMC are pleased to have been working in conjunction with NHSE regarding the complaints process. Our complaints workshop was held on the evening of 9th May 2018 and was presented by Kimberley Kingsley (Deputy Director of Nursing and Quality and Regional Complaints Lead) and Cathie Cunnington...
There has been lots of information relating to the COVID vaccination programme. For ease and a point of reference, we have tried to place all the key documents in to one place:
BMA guidance on Covid Vaccination programme
Coronavirus » Enhanced Service Specification: COVID-19 vaccination...
Care Quality Commission
(February 2019) New CQC provider information collection & annual regulatory review
Practices should have now received the attached letter. Practices rated good/outstanding will no longer be routinely inspected every two years, with their inspections changing to a...
Thank you to everyone that attended our webinar on Wednesday 15th July 2020 with the CQC on their Emergency Support Framework, we hope you found the session useful.
We have included a link to a copy of the presentation and ESF questions
About the CQC Emergency Support...
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 be aware that there is an important drug supply issue affecting:
Nardil (phenelzine sulfate) 15mg tablets (MAOI) supply issue
Kyowa Kirin, the sole supplier of Nardil (phenelzine sulfate) 15mg tablets in the UK, have informed the Department of Health and Social Care that due to...
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...
The guidance from GPC regarding obligations and entitlements of General Practitioners who are asked to attend child protection case conferences or to prepare written safeguarding reports for use at them.
This guidance was influenced by extensive feedback and examples of cases from GP's across...
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...
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 England published the General Practice Forward View (GPFV) in April 2016.
We produced a briefing paper over the summer- the GPFV is light on detail, and it is hard to determine how much of the additional funding it promises is 'new money' and how much is included in CCG/NHSE baseline...
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...
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...
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...
Across LLR the policy with regards requests for housing letter would be similar to other regions, there is no requirement for GP's to provide such letters. In fact the councils applications for housing /housing benefits do not hold any weight for such supporting letters.
We would simply inform...
The LMC have made some changes to the Cremation Form 4 process. If you use the PRISM version on SystmOne there is now an option to digitally sign the document.
A completed cremation form 4 contains confidential information and due to this should not be sent via email unless there is encryption....
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.
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...
It has been brought to the attention of the LMC by our members, that GPs are receiving letters of request from Local Authority and school dietitians which are being requested to sign by a health professional, particularly around the start of a new term The LMC view is that these requests are not...
Please note that new 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 here:
https://www.bma.org.uk/advice/employment/gp-practices/service-provision/access-to-gps-for-patients
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...
LLR LMC has received a query relating GPs responsibility relating to the national Bowel Screening programme which we believe is valuable to share.
Please see advice and guidance as follows:
Sending a letter on practice headed paper infer practice/GP culpability:
No, because national bowel...
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...
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...
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...
Dr Grant Ingrams, LMC Board member has developed the Remote verification of death (RVOD) protocol which has been endorsed by Professor Mason (Senior Coroner, Leicester and South Leicestershire), Mr Kirkman (Senior Coroner, North Leicestershire and Rutland) and all three LLR CCGs.
It is...
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...
The LMC has produced a short practical guide for the completion of medical certificates of cause of death and form cremation 4 for LLR GPs. This has been agreed by Professor C Mason (Senior Coroner, Leicester City and Leicestershire South) and Mr T H Kirkman (Senior Coroner, Leicestershire North...
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...
UPDATED OCTOBER 2019
Travel vaccines are part of additional services of the new GMS contract.
When the new contract was introduced in 2004 a number of the individual items were automatically transferred into the global sum:
Private income for some travel vaccines
The situation with regard to...
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...
The BMA has issued guidance on the treatment of foreign visitors by GPs - The rules have not changed but the interpretation has.
This apparently followed MP complaints about charging to NHSE, involvement of NHSE lawyers and double checking of NHSE conclusions by BMA lawyers.
If requested,...
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...
