EMail Alerts - Berkshire

Vacancy on West Berks Local Reference Committee     (14/05/10)

Dear All
Self nominations are invited to fill a vacancy on Berkshire Local Medical Committee’s West Berks LRC/PCT Liaison Sub-Committee.

This will provide an exciting  opportunity for a GP to become involved in local developments and help make the  PCT aware of grass root opinion. 

Please send expressions of interest  and/or requests for further details to:
paul.roblin@bbolmc.co.uk

Best wishes
Pauline
Pauline  Green
Administration & Information Manager
Berks, Bucks & Oxon  LMCsest Berks Local Reference Committee

Dressings at weekends in East Berks                                 (11/05/10)

This issue will be discussed with the PCT on 18.5.10.

It appears the PCT feels some practices are abusing the “walk in centreâ€� at weekends by sending  patients for dressings that could easily be done at the surgery in hours (Mon to  Fri). They do not want to pay for services twice  

The NHS Choices entry  for the walk in centre at http://www.nhs.uk/ServiceDirectories/Pages/WalkInCentre.aspx?id=YDC29&JScript=1 says:

Main services
Blood pressure checks, Coughs, colds and flu-like symptoms, Information on staying healthy and health promotion, Minor cuts and wounds - dressings and  care, Muscle and joint injuries - strains and sprains, Skin complaints - rashes, sunburn and headlice, Stomach  ache, indigestion, constipation, vomiting and diarrhoea, Women's health problems, thrush and menstrual advice

The PCT want to hand unavoidable weekend dressings to district nurses which could cause problems with  nursing capacity and a reluctance to treat the non  housebound 

LMC would appreciate feedback from practices on what they feel the “walk in centreâ€� should be  providing in relation to week and weekend dressings. 

Paul Roblin (CEO) and Isabel Mower (LRC  Chair) 

Issue raised by LMC regarding Swine Flu vaccinations for the housebound                                                                               (15/01/10)

The LMC met with BW PCT yesterday  and raised the issue of variable district nurse cooperation with vaccinating the housebound against swine flu 

Has  BW PCT asked you for a list of housebound patients?
Are  your housebound patients being vaccinated by someone outside the practices eg district nurses? 

Please note that the DES says:
“Form and content of the arrangements
6.(1) The arrangements that each Primary Care Trust, as part of its Pandemic Influenza (H1N1) Vaccination Scheme, enters into with contractors who are primary medical services contractors with a  registered patient list must be contractual arrangements, in writing, which include the following”
(a) a list (the “housebound patients list”) of those of the contractor’s registered patients who are in a priority  group but who are housebound (that is, they are a patient to whom the contractor would normally offer home visits as the only practical means of enabling the patient to consult a general practitioner, face to face), and a provision to the effect that
(i) the contractor is not under an obligation to offer a patient on the housebound patients list the H1N1 vaccine; and
(ii) the Primary Care Trust shall  not recover the cost of administering the H1N1 vaccine to those patients on the  housebound patients list from the contractor;

Dr Paul  Roblin
CEO  BBOLMC
07799116597 or 01628 475727

Appointment of Chair for West Berks LMC                       (06/01/10)

Dear Colleague

I would  like to inform you that Charles Gallagher has been elected Chair of the Berkshire West Local Reference Committee (LRC). This is a new appointment  designed to strengthen the role of the LMC locally. East Berkshire has had an LRC chair for some time.

As you know the Local Medical Committee (LMC) is responsible for representing all GPs in Berkshire .

The LRCs are sub-committees of the LMC that deal with individual PCTs. 

Charles  has been in partnership in Wokingham since 1992. He has been a member of the LRC  for several years.

As well as chairing bi-monthly meetings with the PCT, the LRC Chair checks all  announcements from the PCT for matters of concern, acts as a contact point for local practitioners who wish to raise matters with the LMC and can deputise for  Paul Roblin, CEO of the LMC, at meetings he is unable to attend. This appointment is in addition to existing arrangements and practitioners are  welcome to make direct contact with the LMC secretariat for advice and assistance as always.

Please remember that the LMC offers practitioners advice and support across all aspects of their practice, not just relationships with the PCT. The LMC CEO can, for example, mediate in partnership disputes and advise on complaints. LMC is in  dialogue with local secondary care providers and other professional groups such  as dentists and can assist in resolving professional difficulties with bodies  such as Local Authorities and the Police. If the LMC is unable to help it can advise where help can be found. 

Please feel free to contact Charles by email (c.gallagher@doctors.org.uk) or phone (0118 978  3544).

The LMC  secretariat contact details can be found at http://www.bbolmc.co.uk/contact/contact.html

Dr Paul  Roblin
CEO  BBOLMC
07799116597 or 01628 475727

GP Led Health Centre: Richmond and Twickenham       (08/04/09)

Please be aware of the opportunity below.

Dr Paul  Roblin
CEO  BBOLMC
07799116597 or 01628 475727

GP Led Health Centre: Richmond and Twickenham

I have been asked by Richmond and Twickenham PCT to ask for two General Practitioners who might be interested in sitting on the  Panel evaluating bids for the GP Led Health Centre in the PCT. 

The commitment will  be:
Pre-briefing meeting - 2 hours on 20/4/09
Evaluation meeting - 1 day on 27/4/09 

There will be a further set of meetings provisionally planned for:
1/7/09 - 2  hours
15/7/09 - 1 day evaluation meeting
23/7/09 - 1 day bidder interviews 

Colleagues will also need to complete background reading of bidder material. Both meetings and baclground  work will be reimbursed. The meetings will occur in Richmond and Twickenham.  The two GPs will be members of a seven-strong Panel including the PCT Chief  Executive and Chairman. 

If anyone would be interested in this opportunity, please contact me this week.

With best  wishes

Julius
Dr Julius Parker
Chief  Executive
Surrey and Sussex LMCs
Julius.Parker@SSLMCS.CO.UK

Hillingdon Independent GP Group (HIGP) support group for sessional GPs                                                                             (20/11/08)

To All Berks & Bucks Practices 

Please could you circulate the information below to any sessional GPs working in your practice?

Many thanks.
Michelle
Berks, Bucks & Oxon LMCs

From: Sashi  Shashikanth [mailto:Sashi.Shashikanth@gp-E86620.nhs.uk]
Sent: 16 November 2008 18:30
To:pauline.green@bbolmc.co.uk
Subject: article for circulation 

Dear Pauline,
We have members from your region as well since we are  bordering with your area. I will be grateful if you could kindly send this to  bucks and berks GPs . These are difficult times for sessional GP and we would  like to be supportive as much as possible . Please note – we are NOT the plc hawks , we are front line GPs who care for the next generation . This group is entirely run by volunteers.

Sashi www.londongp.org.uk

Article below

Hillingdon Independent GP Group (HIGP) is a mutual support group for sessional GPs. It was established in 2002 and is run entirely  on a voluntary basis by GPs. This dynamic group, free to members, provides continuous professional development and informal mentoring for sessional GPs. Networking and information-sharing are strong features of HIGP, and help combat  isolation as well as keep members up to date. In the absence of a formal method  of information-sharing, sessional GPs get all notifications from PCT, clinical  tutors and GPC cascaded to them via the group's active hillingdonigp e-forum which also provides medico-political updates.

Monthly educational meetings, always well attended, offer PDP  certificates. The 69-member strong group also organises regular sponsored away-days. The well-run group has been frequently complimented by the deanery and the GPC for its organisational skills and its inclusiveness. It has attracted GPs from surrounding PCTs, which in turn has helped practices in the region to get high quality sessional GPs. The group  maintains its association with The National Association of Sessional GPs, and  its members have been elected to local LMCs. With upcoming revalidation, sessional GPs will find membership with such an educational group even more useful to prove they are up to date with professional development. The group  relies on funding from pharmaceutical industry and the deanery for its  activities. Committee members who meet regularly write proposals and tenders for  funding from the deanery.

Apart  from being a useful educational resource ,the group's website www.hillingdongp.org.uk has been  helping the local practices to find GP locums and salaried GPs, absolutely free of charge. As soon as  practices place their advert on the website, an instant email is generated to  all members. The practices usually fill their vacancies within 30 minutes and  this service has been a resounding success in Hillingdon and surrounding PCTs.  The website has eliminated the need for locum agencies, with a significant  savings cost to both practices and sessional GPs.

Sashi Shashikanth
Web editor /e-forum moderator

Clinical Audit; message for all GPs                                       (10/09/08)

To all Berks West practices

After receiving Kath Haversham’s email of 3.9.08 I asked the PCT whether the audit processes complied with the Data Protection Act and had been passed by the PCT Caldicott  Guardian.

Please see their reply below 

I also sought BMA  advice which is copied below the box in green text

Dr Paul Roblin
CEO  BBOLMC
07799116597 or 01628 475727

PCT Guidance:

Paul,
In order to be as robust as  possible, I have now run the clinical audit list for GPs past Helen MacKenzie  who is our Caldicott Guardian.  We have identified, via Steph Bennett Head of  Corporate Affairs, that the CDU team need to use an encrypted memory stick which  meets the PCT’s minimum standards to transport the data (even if the data is  anonymised) rather than a CD. We have passed this request to the CDU and expect  them to comply.

GMC guidance (http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/current/library/confidentiality.asp)  and Healthcare Commission guidance (http://www.healthcarecommission.org.uk/serviceproviderinformation/nationalclinicalaudit/gu idanceonstandards.cfm)  is pretty clear and helpful on the issue of patient involvement in clinical audit. I am sure you are already familiar with this  guidance.

Sara Whittaker
Head of  Quality and Clinical Standards
NHS  Berkshire West

BMA Guidance

Paul
The advice from the  Legal Dept is that it is legal - firstly because the GMS/PMS contracts have obligations on the contractor to provide information and secondly because the  PCT has the right to ask for information relating to the promotion of health management and development under the DPA, which is not necessarily subject to the usual consent and disclosure rules.
The guidance is found on the NHS website - Code of Confidentiality: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuid ance/DH_4069253

Catharina Ohman-Smith
Senior Policy  Executive.  BMA General Practitioners Committee

EB Medication only visits                                                         (01/09/08)

To all East Berkshire practices

It recently became clearEB PCT has stopped its district nurses from performing medication only visits.

Sometimes the purpose of the DN  contact has been wrongly coded by the PCT, resulting in inappropriate withdrawal  of clinically important services. 

LMC will be discussing this issue on 9.9.08.

Can practices let me know their  feelings about what has happened in East Berks, together with early experiences of the change? 

Dr Paul  Roblin
CEO  BBOLMC
07799116597 or 01628 475727

Dovedale Counselling services for Oxon and Berks GPs (09/07/08)

To all Oxon and  Berks practices

Dealing  with pressure - Reminder  that guidance and support is available from Dovedale  Counselling 

Being under pressure is  a normal part of life and can lead to improved performance.

But under too much pressure in the practice, for too long, can lead to stress.

Here are some  suggestions for managing pressure better:

• Talk about the pressure you are  experiencing with your colleagues, family, friends
• Put your energies into trying to finding solutions, manage your time better, learn how to say no
• Look at your work/life balance – is it the way you want it?
• Become more aware of how pressure arises to avoid it becoming a problem
• Make time to relax, eat healthily, take  more exercise, try to get more sleep.

For more guidance and  support, visit the GP-CARE User Pages
www.dovedale.co.uk/GP-CARE/wellbeing

There, you'll also find  information on a variety of other wellbeing issues that can affect your personal and professional life. You can also make a secure online request for face to face counselling.

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