Primary care bulletin - 21 February 2024
Bulletin:
Cost of living support available for patients; implementation of first phase of Martha's Rule; webinars and training

Welcome to this week's primary care bulletin


Key points this week include:
  • Remind patients there is cost of living support available this Winter
  • Implementation of first phase of Martha's Rule
  • NHS type 2 diabetes path to remission programme (T2DR) launched in NW London
  • Training and webinars including:
    • Lunch and learn webinar: Facilitating access for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes
    • Upcoming eConsult online consultation action learning opportunities
    • ICHP Polypharmacy Masterclass - care homes
    • LAS webinar series

Remind patients there is cost of living support available this Winter


We know many of our residents are still struggling with the cost of living. It’s important to remind patients there is support available. This can include schemes and discounts to help individuals and their families, and those who are disabled or are Severely Mentally Impaired (SMI).

Our cost of living pages act as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for information about these schemes, as well as local support and advice to help with the cost of living.

The pages now include information about the NHS Healthy Start Scheme. It is designed to help support parents with the costs of buying milk, fruit, vegetables and instant formula, along with other selected items. It is open to parents with children under the age of four who meet an eligibility criterion.

Access our pages here.

Implementation of first phase of Martha’s Rule


NHS England has announced that the first phase of the introduction of Martha’s Rule will be implemented in the NHS from April 2024. Once fully implemented this will give patients, families, carers and staff, round-the-clock access to an urgent review from a separate care team if they are worried about a person’s condition. 

Martha Mills died in 2021 after developing sepsis in hospital where she had been admitted with a pancreatic injury after falling off her bike. Martha’s family’s concerns about her deteriorating condition were not responded to promptly and in 2023 a coroner ruled that Martha would probably have survived had she been moved to intensive care earlier. 

In response to this and other cases related to the management of deterioration, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and NHS England committed to implement ‘Martha’s Rule’ to ensure the vitally important concerns of the patient and those who know the patient best are listened to and acted upon.

The implementation of Martha’s Rule in the NHS will take a phased approach beginning with at least 100 adult and paediatric acute provider sites who already offer a 24/7 critical care outreach capability. We will ask for expressions of interest to be part of the first phase of the programme (further details will be sent to providers shortly). 

The focused approach at the initial provider sites will inform the development of wider national policy proposals for Martha’s Rule that can be expanded in a phased way across the NHS from 2025/26. We will also identify ways to roll out an adapted Martha’s Rule model across other settings including community and mental health hospitals where the processes may not apply in the same way.

Find out more on our Martha’s Rule webpage 

Remind patients there is cost of living support available this Winter


We know many of our residents are still struggling with the cost of living. It’s important to remind patients there is support available. This can include schemes and discounts to help individuals and their families, and those who are disabled or are Severely Mentally Impaired (SMI).

Our cost of living pages act as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for information about these schemes, as well as local support and advice to help with the cost of living.

The pages now include information about the NHS Healthy Start Scheme. It is designed to help support parents with the costs of buying milk, fruit, vegetables and instant formula, along with other selected items. It is open to parents with children under the age of four who meet an eligibility criterion.

Access our pages here.

NHS type 2 diabetes path to remission programme (T2DR) launched in NW London


T2DR programme is now live in NW London. 

The email address for Practices to send referrals to Counterweight is cwt.t2dr.nwl@nhs.net.

Please find the cribsheet/screenshots of the data quality searches to find eligible patients EMIS and SystmOne here.

The referral form can be found as below:

NWL SystmOne practices: The referral form (Diabetes Counterweight T2DR Referral) is available in the referral wizard/address book under the Diabetic Medicine Folder.
NWL EMIS practices: The new referral form (NWL ICS Diabetes Counterweight T2DR Referral Form) is available in NWL Resource Publisher (NWL EMIS Enterprise S&R > Documents Template > Diabetes folder).
NWL EMIS PCN Hub systems: The T2DR referral form will need to be manually imported. These will be sent to hub contacts next week. If you do not receive these please email the service desk (nhsnwl.servicedesk@nhs.net)

For further information on the programme please visit: https://www.counterweight.org/pages/t2dr-referrer-nwl  

Education and training

Lunch and learn webinar: Facilitating access for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes


The NHS National Diabetes Programme is offering another Lunch & Learn webinar on the important topic of Diabetes Structured Education: facilitating access for adults with t1 and t2 diabetes

Wednesday 20 March 1-2pm.

The webinar will be hosted by Helen Slee, NHS National Diabetes Programme,
and chaired by Candice Ward, Cambridge Diabetes Education Programme.

The webinar is free and a Certificate of Attendance will be issued, so please encourage your teams to register!

You can also share the Lunch & Learn flyer with your team.

Upcoming eConsult online consultation action learning opportunities


Sign up now to secure your place

The action learning sets are designed to share lessons learnt, discuss scenarios, share practical tips and tricks and connect with colleagues in other PCNs and boroughs. Find out more about how online consultations are used/can be maximised.


eConsult Action Learning Set Dates

Perceval House, 14/16 Uxbridge Road

5th March 2024 @ 13.30-15.45

*12th March 2024 @ 13.30-15.45

* Can be altered to virtual if enough interest, please email your preference.


Sign up now to secure your place on the Learning Hub 

Or email: nhsnwl.oc@nhs.net with your name, role, practice and choice of date

 

ICHP Polypharmacy Masterclass - care homes 


Wednesday 13 of March 2024 from 12.00pm-2.00pm

Manisha Bhatt and Imperial College Health Partners would like to invite you to attend our upcoming “Elements of Medicines Management in Care Homes and its connections to Polypharmacy” webinar.

In this session, there will be discussions about the care home medication ordering process, proxy access, medicines waste, transfer of medicines and transfer of medicines and medicines reconciliation. Please bring along any questions for discussion.    

Please click here to register for the session.  

Feel free to circulate this invite to other colleagues who may be interested. 

For further information and/or to get involved with the ICHP Polypharmacy Programme please contact:  

catherine.caldwell@imperialcollegehealthpartners.com or gill.francis@imperialcollegehealthpartners.com 

LAS webinar series


Webinars have been set up to help healthcare colleagues effectively use the dedicated Healthcare Professionals (HCP) line number, which enables healthcare professionals to request an emergency ambulance.

Webinars are taking place on the following dates:
Click here to download the invitation for further information.