Chair Update
In my final newsletter contribution as Chair I’d like to pay tribute to all the wonderful people I’ve had the good fortune to work with at the Fed.
The team have always had the best interest of our patients, our practices, our PCNs and our borough at heart.
They have supported the delivery of high quality services such as the well regarded EA service and community anticoagulation clinics. During the pandemic they stepped up hot hubs and step down ward cover at short notice, demonstrating our strength as a flexible, community based at scale provider.
Over the last five years, during my overall time at the Fed we have been able to support the development of our 7 PCNs, providing infrastructure, finance and HR services for the majority. It has been my pleasure to see the PCNs, under the leadership of their CDs, go from strength to strength. I have thoroughly enjoyed working alongside them over the years.
My time as Chair has been dominated by a necessary restructure of the organisation as a result of key contracts coming to an end. As the system continues to recover from the Pandemic and PCNs become increasingly self sufficient we need to review all the services we currently provide and build on the support we can offer our member practices. A real highlight for me has been the formation of the Barnet GP cabinet which is now in its third year. Working alongside the PCN CD’s Training Hub, LMC and Local ICB team to provide a single voice for Barnet General Practice has been great to see.
At this point I’d like to welcome our new Chair Dr. Anjali Gibbs, GP at Oakleigh Road Clinic, Clinical Lead for the LTC LCS in the borough and one of our existing board members. Anjali brings with her lots of enthusiasm and a willingness to listen and engage. I am sure you will welcome her and give her your support throughout her term.
It just remains for me to thank you all for the support you have shown me in the role over the past 2 years. Whilst I won’t be in any clinical leadership roles for some time I will still be around and look forward to meeting you at future Pan Barnet events.
Bye for now, Ahmer
This month we bid farewell to our chair, Ahmer Farooqi, who is stepping down after five years with the Federation and the last two years as Chair.
We thank Ahmer for steering the Federation successfully through an extended period of change as it helped practices recover from the pandemic, PCNs to continue developing and take on Enhanced Access services, and the Training Hub to extend its activities across Primary Care. Ahmer also led the Federation’s contribution to the establishment of the Barnet GP Cabinet, bring together PCNs, the LMC, Training Hub and ICB Primary Care Team with the Federation go give Barnet general practice a strong unified voice. We look forward to welcoming his successor, Dr Anjali Gibbs, as the new chair from April 2024.
Enjoy the spring break!
BFG Board Directors and team
Headlines
Bowel Cancer Screening Calling Project 2024/25
North Central London Cancer Alliance in collaboration with North Central London ICB has launched a project to increase bowel cancer screening rates in the borough. They are working with a London-based charity called Community Links on this project. If there are no objections received by the practices invited to take part in the project, the Federation will be supporting with EMIS patient data extraction needed for the project.
Bridging Service appointments for patients aged under 18
The Federation has received funding for additional Bridging Service face-to-face appointments for patients aged under 18 at weekends and bank holidays between 1 April 2024 and 30 September 2024.
SMI Healthcheck update
Barnet continues to make significant progress towards the 2023/2024 target. The Federation has again shared data with practices to review activity to end February 2024. Practices are encouraged to use the “Headlines” template from Ardens which covers all six elements required for payments. These elements are:
- Measurement of weight (BMI or BMI + Waist circumference)
- Blood pressure and pulse check (diastolic and systolic blood pressure recording or diastolic and systolic blood pressure + pulse rate)
- Blood lipid including cholesterol test (cholesterol measurement or QRISK measurement)
- Blood glucose test (blood glucose or HbA1c measurement)
- Assessment of alcohol consumption
- Assessment of smoking status
RSS Closure
The Federation continues to process referrals generated in the Bridging Service and subcontracted EA service. The Federation may need to contact GP practices for support with accessing information from Cerner (such as blood test results) whilst the Federation applies for access to Cerner. Arrangements will be kept under review during the transition period whilst the RSS is available to support practices and the Federation.
Practice Support GP Sessions
Barnet Federated GPs are offering to provide additional in-hours and extra Enhanced Access GP sessions to any of our member practices that may wish to take up this offer. This offer is made to all our member practices, as part of our core values of supporting all practices equally. Please use the online request form at the following link to make a request: https://forms.office.com/e/R29sdbY7KM. Kindly request one session at a time. When you click submit, you will be given the option to submit another form. This is to ensure that all requests are managed as effectively as possible: If requested, we will endeavour to fill sessions within practice hours, but may also offer support during EA hours (18.30-21.00) as an alternative if we are not able to fill the sessions in hours. The sessions run as follows: Sessions are telephone and video consultations only, with GPs working remotely.
Sessions are created in EMIS Community and booked into using the same process as for Federation EA appointments (though the slots will be reserved only for the individual practice requesting the session). A discharge summary for each patient is sent to the practice. Appointments are 15mins, similar to EAS sessions. Federation administrators will provide support to the GP during the session. The total cost is £115.00/hour – this covers the cost of the GP time, as well as the administration and governance costs associated with putting on the sessions, as we provide a full service similar to the Enhanced Access/111, Sunday, & Bank Holiday service. This is subject to us successfully sourcing GPs to fill the sessions and all the sessions are conducted remotely. We would of course, only charge for the sessions that were successfully provided. If you request a session but later find that the session will no longer be required, you must notify the Federation with at least 48 hours’ notice prior to the start of the session. If we do not receive this notification, we may still charge you for the session, as we will be required to pay the GP for their time. For any queries, please email barnetfederatedgps.services@nhs.net
Award Winner
We are VERY PROUD to announce and congratulate to Senior Health Care Support Worker Frances Wallace, who is one of the winners of the prestigious Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) and Chief Midwifery Officer (CMidO) Support Worker Excellence Award, launched by Dame Ruth May, Chief Nursing Officer for NHS England.
Frances has made her way through the ranks, from reception and admin to HCA and then to Senior Health Care Support Worker over the years @ Speedwell Practice.
Her dedication and exemplary service have not only upheld but elevated the values of the NHS, making a profound difference in the lives of the patients she cares for and the colleagues she supports.
Her achievements in areas such as patient care, respect and dignity, quality of service, compassion, improving lives, and promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion have distinguished her as a vital asset to the Practice, Primary Care and the NHS.
We hope that her incredible achievement will inspire others and highlight the critical role of support workers in Primary Care and wider healthcare system.
Pan Barnet Face to Face Event – Thursday 18th April at Stone X stadium
Please see attached the poster for the event. We are pleased to be focusing on the topic of Sleep and Wellbeing as well as an update from the Talking Therapy services.
We also welcome important and useful updates from the Training Hub, Federation team and the NCL ICB.
PAN BARNET APRIL FACE TO FACE POSTER Contact Emily at barnet.cepnadmin@nhs.net
Job opportunities
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
111, Sunday & Bank Holiday (Bridging) Service We have been doing really well in all our services. We are still providing admin support for PCN 2, 3 & 6 as well as adhoc sessions for PCN 4 We have full capacity for the bridging service for the bank holiday weekend, and we continue to keep these filled to full capacity. The Anticoagulation, Smoking Cessation and the DSN are all running well and the patients are very happy with the services. For any queries, please email barnetfederatedgps.services@nhs.net.
Launch of multi professional and mid-career fellowship opportunities – application deadline Friday 29th March 2024
Dear All, We are pleased to confirm we have now launched both the mid-career and the multiprofessional fellowships across NCL. Hopefully you will start to see adverts being included in all the regular bulletins. We would really appreciate your support in making sure that the following job descriptions and application links are circulated within your local borough to any groups that may be interested. The application form links are below: Mid-career fellowships Multiprofessional fellowships The deadline for applications is Friday 29th March 2024.
Mid-career fellowships
Barnet
- Borough Based Peer Group Facilitator
- Mid-career Fellowship in Frailty
Camden
- Borough Based Peer Group Facilitator
Multiprofessional fellowships
Barnet
- Ambassador for multiprofessional leadership
- Ambassador for multiprofessional supervision
Training Information and Opportunities
Bitesize Session with Barnet MenCap for our Barnet Non Clinical Workforcee
We are pleased to invite our non clinical team to this training session on learning disabilities and autism awareness 24th April 1100-1200
It will be an interactive session and will cover the following:
-What is Autism and Learning disabilities (definitions)
-Raise understanding of the challenging faced by people with these conditions.
-Implementing positive way of working: terminology and communication tips
-Sharing experience: client’s perspective
Please share with your teams to attend and we look forward to seeing you.
It is being delivered with Barnet Mencap Home – Barnet Mencap
Emily barnet.cepnadmin@nhs.net
NCL GPA Course Cohort 1 Underway
Our NCL GP Assistant course launched on the 20th Feb with 31 learners from across NCL. Being led by 2 of our Barnet GPs an 8 session online course is being delivered across 4 months. They will focus on learning how to support their GPs and Practice in lessening the administrative load and improving workflow with the practice. This course is developed with upskilling our current admin and reception teams, developing their knowledge and understanding of clinical administrative workflow and signposting. Our cohort 2 starting in March is now full. However there is space on Cohort 3 starting after the summer. Take a look at the course description attached and feel free to get in touch with any questions. Kerree Ahern – NCL Non clinical Training lead kerree.ahern@nhs.net or Emily barnet.cepnadmin@nhs.net
GP Assistant Training Programme – Cohort 3 2024 (formerly Medical Assistant)
GP assistants will be trained to: •Sort and priorities clinical post – extract & code relevant information • Improve confidence in digital consultation triage •Independently deal with routine clinical post •Facilitate follow-up appointments and onward referrals. •Complete straightforward (non-opinion) forms for GPs to approve and sign (e.g. insurance forms) •Help GP to liaise with outside agencies e.g. arranging for on call doctors to provide advice on the phone, or to arrange admission, allowing the GP to continue with their consultation(s) •Supporting the GP practice team with population health monitoring/ QOF data •QI work to support the GP practice team Benefits to the practice Reduce GP workload •Releasing time for patients clinical care •Fully funded opportunity to upskill existing non-clinical staff members Programme run remotely via MS Teams over 8 sessions involving •Introduction to the programme for GP Assistants and GP mentors. •Half day remote sessions involving large group learning & small group discussions putting learning into practice including Medical Terminology Training. •Learners will be expected to carry out workplace-based learning and receive feedback support and supervision from a (GP) mentor between sessions. •Regular updates to mentors on learning completed and ways to support GPA •Quality Improvement training with practical application in practice Cohort 3 dates will be after the summer To book a place for one your reception/admin team please contact Emily on barnet.cepnadmin@nhs.net with Name, Email, Role, Practice, Borough, Practice Manager and (GP) Mentor name and email address. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first serve basis
Research
Research Studies for Barnet GP Practices
INDIGO Community Aim: To understand more about the long-term outcomes and service use of patients living with and beyond a diagnosis of cancer Benefits: Remuneration of £200 + additional incentives for number of text messages
Practice involvement: Database search & inviting patients via iPlato text messaging
PETRA
Aim: To compare active pregabalin with an identical placebo as means of investigating the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of pregabalin. Benefits: Remuneration of £200 + additional research costs Practice involvement: Database search & mail-out (Can be coordinated remotely by BRN coordinators)
OPTIMISE2
Aim: To establish whether deprescribing common drugs that lower blood pressure is safe or effective in older people in the longer term (a year or more).
Benefits: Remuneration of approx. £1145 (intervention arm) or £905 (control arm)
Practice involvement: Online SIV, Database search & mail out for 10-15 pts, Baseline visit screening (30 mins per pt), CRN nurse support provided. For expressions of interest, please contact the Barnet Research Network on nclicb.barnetresearchnetwork@nhs.net or narendra.samarasekara@nhs.net.