Barnet Federated GPs News – February 2022

Chair Update

Dear Members, Colleagues & Patients,

Coming in to the second month of the New Year it has been a very busy time for all in healthcare. As the Federation, we have been involved at lots of different levels, from supporting practices (Delivery of face masks, Practice Index Offer); delivery of services (EAS, Anticoagulation, Rapid Response support, Smoking Cessation, Step down cover at RNOH, Barnet ED support, EHS); and involvement at NCL level (development of GPPA, Training Hub support, working as part of an Place Based Partnership).

The staff who have been involved in this have been integral to the success of the Federation. We have a small team of 10 WTE staff supported by a number of GPs, Nurses, Pharmacists, Practice Managers and Administrators who are key to the delivery of over 70,000 contacts a year.

It is another challenging year ahead for the Federation but I know that with the support of our practices we will continue to help make a difference to the patients of Barnet. I would like to thank everyone involved in the Federation for the support you have given and wish you a very healthy 2022.

Anuj

Dr Anuj Patel

Headlines

***NEW*** – Barnet Front Door ED Service

Barnet Federated GPs is pleased to be working alongside Barnet Hospital Emergency Department. Following on from a pilot and interim service that was delivered more recently, we have been approached by The Royal Free London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust to support our colleagues in Barnet Hospital’s Emergency Department. The aim of the service is to ensure that patients are seen in the right place and right time and to reduce crowding in the ED.

The Federation is supporting with this by providing a rota of GPs with sessions running 10:00 – 18:00 from 14th February.

Patients will be seen and managed according to primary care pathways, including ‘bounce back’ to the ED where it is deemed clinically appropriate, or onward referral and signposting to other services. More detailed information regarding pathways will be provided prior to the session holders. There will be management support both operationally and clinically from the Federation and Barnet Hospital to ensure GPs are supported throughout the sessions and ensure the smooth running of the pilot. Clinical governance arrangements including indemnity will sit under the Royal Free Hospital and GPs will only be seeing patients that are registered with a Barnet GP practice.

Shift patterns will be 10:00 – 14:00 & 14:00 – 18:00 Monday – Sunday, 7 days a week.

All GPs who are fully registered with the GMC and RCGP and work within Barnet practices will be eligible for the sessions, with no prior emergency medicine experience required. Please email the rota team on barccg.bfgrota@nhs.net to register your interest in working for the service, or to find out more information.

BFG Recruiting for EAS Service

BFGs will be onboarding new sessional GPs into the EAS service. If you would like to find out more about the onboarding process as well as sessions and how to book them or would like to join the Federation, please email: barnet.federation@nhs.net

SMI Checks

The Federation went out to the practices with an offer of £53 per SMI health check on hitting all 6 domains of the assessment.

Discussions are ongoing with the local authority regarding the opportunity for the Federation to work closely with the voluntary sector to help improve uptake.

Extended Access Service (EAS) Data Pack – December 2021

Please see attached the data pack for December activity. The Federation welcome any feedback that colleagues may have, please email: barnet.federation@nhs.net

Date for your diary

Wednesday 2nd March 2022-  Homelessness, and Health for Asylum Seekers and Refugees

Click here to join the meeting

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/

Salaried GP

Ongoing recruitment for Salaried GPs to work primarily in EAS and other Federation services. If you are interested and would like to be considered, please refer to the attached Job Description for more details, or email barnet.federation@nhs.net.

Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH)

• Service mobilised on Friday 7th January, with 24 hours notice
• Demobilised on Thursday 27th January with all patients discharged
• Step down ward for patients, medically optimised but covid positive
• 32 beds freed at North Middlesex Hospital as a result of this step-down service being mobilised, which was recognised by system colleagues

Supporting General Practice

One of the functions of the Federation is support for general practice and recently some of the initiatives include the following:

QOF Crib Sheet

• A summary of key changes to QOF requirements for the current financial year 2021-22 was circulated in a colour-coded document to all practices. This information was initially shared with all primary care organisations in a letter from NHS England on 8th December – which is also embedded within the document. Please email barnet.federation@nhs.net if you would like a copy of this.

Face Masks Distribution

• During week commencing Monday 2th0 December the Federation took delivery of 14,400 FFP2 and 9,600 FFP3 face masks and delivered these to each PCN hub according to patient list size.

Practice Support Coffee Session

• The Federation recently held a Practice Support Coffee session. We’re thankful for the feedback that was received in this forum and will be following up.
• One of the initiatives we are working through is Practice Index Offer for the membership, which provides support for general practice with policies and procedures, HR resources, toolkits and guides. For more information, please email barnet.federation@nhs.net.

Getting ready for patients to have access to their GP health records

From April 2022, patients with online accounts such as through the NHS App, will be able to read new entries in their health records. This applies to patients whose practices use TPP and EMIS systems. Further information on the programme is available through the NHS Digital website.

To help GPs, practice staff and primary care commissioners support patients to access their GP-held records, NHS Primary Care have a series of webinars which explain what this means for you, and what you will need to do next to prepare for this. Dates are available throughout January and February.

Extended Access Service (EAS) Appointments Provision and how to Access them

• Capacity was increased significantly in December, with an additional 1000 appointments provided during the Christmas and New year period. In total more than 5,800 appointments were provided during December.
• Face-to-face capacity was increased in December, with further increases planned for January.

Appointments are released at the following times:

• Monday-Friday – 10.00 & 15.00 (on the day of the appointment)
• Saturday – 8:00am (on Thursday)
• Sunday – 8:00am  (on Friday)

Alternatively, patients can book directly through the appointment booking line – 02039486809 – which is available Monday-Friday 18.30-20.00 and Saturday-Sunday 08.00-20.00.

When booking into this service, please provide updated contact numbers for the patient. This will ensure that the GP can successfully contact the patient to conduct the telephone or video consultation.

Please see attached the EAS appointments booking updated process for step-by-step guidance or for more information on bookings appointments, please email barnetfederatedgps.services@nhs.net.

Training Information and Opportunities

In the Community for the Community

Please click here, to see the January edition of “In the community for the community”, our newsletter updating you on some of the ways we are changing mental healthcare in North Central London. This month it looks at new roles in GP practices, changes in the culture of care, how we are working with communities and the role employment can play in recovery.

For further details, please contact Deborah O’Driscoll on: Deborah.O’Driscoll@candi.nhs.uk

Induction Resources for New Starters in Barnet

As part of the induction programme, Barnet Training Hub has developed a range of resources designed to complement local practice or PCN inductions.

For further details of this programme and how to signpost any new members of your team, please refer to the attached additional document or please email: barnet.cepnadmin@nhs.net

Wellbeing Workshops You Matter: We Matter

An essential and fully – funded 2-part ‘You matter: We Matter’ workshop that will feature leading experts who will share insights and provide simple measures to ensure your personal health and wellbeing are prioritised and optimised when at your workplace.

Please see attached the flyers for the dates and more information about the speakers and if you have any queries, please contact Emily on barnet.cepnadmin@nhs.net to reserve your place

Prescribing Clerk Cohort 2022 Practice EOI

We are thrilled to announce another running of our Prescribing Clerk virtual training for 2022.

Closing of registration 11th February 2022

Please see the flyer attached for information about the dates, contents, outcomes and most importantly how to reserve a place. Alternatively, please Emily for further details: barnet.cepnadmin@nhs.net

Changes to the Barnet Community Mental Health Teams

The Barnet East and Barnet North Locality Teams are merging to form the Barnet North Adult Core Community Mental Health Team, as part of our £25 million, three-year Community Mental Health Transformation Programme.

Please see the attached document for more information about the programme or contact Deborah O’Driscoll or Angela Sobers (contact details below).

Deborah O’Driscoll – M: +44 (0)7825 732633 – E: Deborah.O’Driscoll@candi.nhs.uk

Angela Sobers – angela.sobers@nhs.net

Update on the Care Home MDT Educational Sessions –  Facing Frailty

Barnet Training Hub is excited to announce the start of a series of education events designed to support colleagues working with the frail elderly, in particular those in care or nursing homes.

Take a look at the programme page for the planned topics and schedule Care Home MDT Educational Sessions – Facing Frailty | Barnet PCT Hub (barnetcepn.org.uk) as well as being able to access the recordings of the sessions already run.

Any questions please contact the lead Dr Lizzie Goodwin: elizabethgoodwin@nhs.net

Participation in the Trainee Pharmacist in General Practice Programme National Recruitment 2022 (2023 intake) via ORIEL

The Health Education England Trainee Pharmacists in General Practice Programme offers trainee pharmacists undertaking their Foundation Training Year in community pharmacy or hospital to experience at least 13 weeks in general practice.

For detailed information about the programme please see the attached communications alongside embedded documents. Alternatively, please contact Femeeda Padhani or Payal Patel on – femeeda.padhani@nhs.net or payal.patel13@nhs.net

Research