Barnet Federated GPs News – March 2023

Chair Update

Dear Members, Colleagues & Patients,

I wanted to take the opportunity in my introduction to say farewell to Caroline O’Dwyer as she comes to the end of her second term as one of our board members. Her drive and passion have always been valued helping to push the organisation through often challenging times whilst always keeping a focus on the needs of our patients. Her work with the Barnet Patient Participation Network (BPPN), has been vital in giving a voice to Barnet’s patients, and her work on the Federation’s practice support initiatives and Practice Managers Forum has been greatly valued by practices. 

I am sure you will join me in thanking Caroline for her contribution and wish her well in her future endeavours which will include supporting our colleagues enrolled on the IGPM accreditation scheme. 

We will be looking for new Directors to represent PCNs 1W and 4 soon. So please speak to myself or any of our board members if you are interested or want to find out a bit more about the role. 

As a board we continue work on the future direction of the organisation given the move of more services being delivered through PCNs. There will be changes in our function and structure in the coming months which we aim to communicate with you once we have finalised plans. Nevertheless we continue to engage with the wider system for work that can be delivered at scale through primary care. We are in discussions with the commissioners on a new SMI physical health check contract which will involve closer working with the voluntary sector. 

A reminder we look forward to seeing you at the Pan Barnet (face-face) Event on 20th April

It just remains for me to wish you an enjoyable Easter break and Ramadan Mubarak to those observing fasts over the next month. 

Dr Ahmer Farooqi  

Headlines

PCN EA Update
  • PCNs 2 and 3 have confirmed that they will be delivering their own EA entirely, with possible spot purchasing of clinical time, if needed.
  • PCNs 1D and 6 have confirmed extensions for 6 months, to the end of September, in the first instance. Discussions are being held to agree the service model and any operational changes that need to be introduced.
  • PCN 4 have indicated they would like to continue spot purchasing sessions
  • Reporting on available slots has been implemented on EA subcontracted activity and the information is being shared three times per week with PCN colleagues.
NHS 111, Saturday Evening, Sunday, and Bank Holiday Service
  • The Federation is commissioned by the ICB to provide GP appointments not covered within the PCN EA.
  • Although the service is aimed primarily at the 111 service, it is also accessible via the Federation call centre, making sure that no appointment goes to waste. Please refer to the support for our practices section for further details.
Ken Porter Ward

The service provides a fortnightly ward round by a senior GP and is performing well with no reported issues.

BFG Recruiting for Sub-contract Services
  • We are actively recruiting all types of clinicians and health professionals to work in our sub-contract services
  • We provide competitive rates of pay and offer a varied selection of weekday, evening, and weekend shifts
  • Opportunities exist for home working in some circumstances
  • Please contact barnet.federation@nhs.net if you would like to know more
Date for your diary – Pan Barnet ‘Face to Face’ Event

Date: Thursday 20th April 2023, 12.30-3pm. 

Venue: Hilton Doubletree, Borehamwood , Barnet Bypass, WD6 5PU 

For more information and to register your attendance, please click here.

For further practice support, training information and research updates please see below

Support For Our Practices

Welcome to our vacancy board – Do you have a vacancy or looking for a role in Barnet?
Advertising job opportunities via the Federation website!

Practices and professionals seeking job opportunities in Barnet can advertise through our website on our Pan Barnet Noticeboard: https://barnetfederatedgps.org.uk/pan-barnet-recruitment

SMI Physical Health Checks
  • Discussions are ongoing with commissioners regarding the new service specification for 2023-24. We have received written confirmation of the intention to continue with the service at similar contractual value and activity levels.
  • We will communicate with each of the PCNs and provide an updated trajectory detailing the revised activity needed to be deliver the year end contractual requirement.
  • For those who have hit their activity cap, further funding is not available.
NHS 111, Saturday Evening, Sunday, and Bank Holiday Service
  • The Federation is commissioned by the ICB to provide GP appointments not covered within the PCN EA.
  • Although the service is aimed primarily at the 111 service, it is also accessible via the Federation call centre, making sure that no appointment goes to waste.
  • This service will be combined with and run alongside GP sessions being provided to PCNs within EA in order to achieve economies of scale.
  • The service is available 08.00-20.00 on each bank holiday.
  • The Federation will be offering enhanced rates to GPs working on Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Easter Monday, to ensure adequate capacity within the service.
  • The service remains commissioned until the end of September 2023.
  • If you are a GP and would be interested in working in this service, please email barnetfederatedgps.services@nhs.net.
Acute Respiratory Infection Hubs (ARIH)
  • The ARIH are running until the end of March 2023, in line with the commissioned specifications
  • Hubs are operating from five practices
  • Appointment times are 20 minutes to allow for the complex nature of the cases
  • We are providing around 100 appointments per week, 86% face to face consultations, 14% telephone consultations
  • Utilisation remains high around 95%
EA Service Provision and how to Access them

Weekdays      6:30pm to 9:00pm

Saturday        9:00am – 5:00pm

Sunday          8:00am – 8:00pm

Weekday appointments are same day bookable and released in two phases at 10:00am and 3:00pm.

Saturday appointments are released in two phases, on Monday at 8:00am and Wednesday at 8:00am.

If you have any questions or queries, please contact our services team on: barnetfederatedgps.services@nhs.net

Training Information and Opportunities

For all Barnet Training Hub events and training opportunities, please visit: https://www.barnetcepn.org.uk/

Elephant in the room – Advance Care Planning Conversations – Spaces left June 22nd in person training

These places are open to all who are interested and involved in Advanced Care Planning with their patients.  However, as there are limited places we do request that if you have attended one of Dr Steel’s training before, you promote to your colleagues instead.  Also due to the numbers we would like to have each PCN represented to ensure the training is shared across the borough.

The sessions will also have attendees from secondary care to help build understanding and rapport across both sectors.

Date: June 22nd – Barnet Education Centre (8 places)

Time: 08:30 – 12:30

Please click here to view the main outcomes and if you have any questions, please email: Emily – barnet.cepnadmin@nhs.net

Introducing the NCL Health and Wellbeing page

NCL Training Hub is thrilled to announce the launch of the new Health and Wellbeing webpage, dedicated to providing support to all primary care workers in North Central London. This page showcases the offer provided by KeepingWell NCL, and provides a centralised space for a wide range of resources and events that are available to the primary care workforce.

Click on the following link to view the webpage: https://www.ncltraininghub.org/training-and-support/health-and-wellbeing

Should you require more information, please contact Neslisan Yilmaz on email: neslisan.yilmaz@nhs.net

Menopause in the Workplace training for Barnet Practice Managers – Limited places available

The workshop will be delivered as a virtual session with practical guidance to enable participants to introduce the conversation about menopause into their own practice.

Workshop Outcomes

  • To understand what menopause is and recognise the key symptoms
  • To explore the changing face of the workplace and understand the impact menopause has in the workplace
  • To consider what reasonable adjustments can be made to support staff
  • To briefly introduce the Legislation (UK) and workplace Health and Safety risks related to menopause
  • To consider the benefits of introducing a Menopause Policy
  • To look at how to access further resources and support

Introduction to Menopause in the Workplace Web Workshop: 5th April 2023, 11am – 1pm

For further information, please contact Emily on: barnet.cepnadmin@nhs.net 

Personalised Care Support Planning  (PCSP) for Long Term Conditions

A new LCS for managing long term conditions will be offered across North Central London (NCL) in 2023/24. The model focuses on personalised care and treatment that prioritises prevention and early detection of LTCs. It is based on a year of care with evidence-based interventions, personalisation, self-care, and empowerment.

There will be reimbursement to practices for staff attending this training.  Details will be included the LTC LCS contracts, to be shared with practices at the end of March 2023.

  • There are two parts to this training (P1 and P2).
  • Attendance at both will be mandatory; you need to have attended a P1 session to join a P2 session.
  • Dates across April – June 2023 (more dates to be confirmed throughout the rest of the financial year).
  • AM and PM sessions will take place on the same day (you need only sign up for either AM or PM as course content will be the same in both AM and PM sessions).

The first cohort of P1 session dates include:

Planned P2 session dates include:

Please click here for further details and view the flyer. Alternatively, should you have any questions or queries, please email: Sharon.raph1@nhs.net

Barnet Training Hub with Barnet Medicines Management Team presents Pharmacy Education Programme

Barnet Training Hub, in collaboration with the borough Medicines Management Team, is pleased to announce the launch of the pharmacy educational programme for 2023/24.

Please save the date for the first meeting which will be on the topic of Anticoagulation lead by Kaziwa Lateef, Lead Clinical Pharmacist for the Barnet Federation anticoagulation service, on Wednesday 12 April 1-2pm. A separate calendar invite will follow shortly. All attendees are encouraged to bring along anticoagulation cases or queries for discussion.

We look forward to seeing you at our first meeting on 12 April.

For future meeting topics, please click here.

Barnet Safeguarding Training Opportunities

Barnet Safeguarding team have organised 2 events

  1. Webinar for Safeguarding leads – 17th May 2023 1300-1400
  2. Webinar for all on the ‘Impact of adverse childhood experiences on future health & wellbeing’ Level 3, 14th June 2023

The Children Safeguarding Training Competency Document can be viewed here.

Check your outlook calendars for the invite to the session. Please contact Emily on barnet.cepnadmin@nhs.net if you don’t have the invite

Barnet Training Hub presents: EOI for Prescribing Clerk course 2023

We are pleased to announce we are running out 4th Prescribing Clerk Course for our non clinical staff.

A bespoke online course run by Barnet Facilitators for our recep/admin teams in their work with prescriptions supporting the practice and patients.

Take a look at the attached course description and details of dates and kindly put forward a member of your team to join the training.

For further information, please view the document Prescribing clerk course 2023.

Any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch via email on: Barnet.cepnadmin@nhs.net

Research

national institute for health research
Research Studies for Barnet GP Practices

Please see below summaries of the two studies:

STATIC

Aim: To investigate if withdrawal of aminosalicylate therapy is not unacceptably less effective than continuing on therapy in maintaining Crohn’s Disease 

Benefits: Remuneration of at least £200 + additional per patient costs, support from British Society of Gastroenterology + local IBD team 

Practice involvement: Signing practice docs, brief site training, patient eligibility screening 

IBPI

Aim: To assess whether providing parents with bipolar disorder (BD) with online parenting support leads to their children having fewer behaviour problems. 

Benefits: Remuneration of £200 + additional screening costs 

Practice involvement: Database search, participant screening, recruitment text-out 

For more information, please feel free to contact: David Jones at Noclor on davidjones@nhs.net OR Narendra Samarasekara on narendra.samarasekara@nhs.net