Primary care bulletin - 8 May 2024
Bulletin:
Death registrations; ERS update; fraud alert; safeguarding stem autism briefing and more

Welcome to this week's primary care bulletin

Key points this week include:
  • Death registration process
  • Primary care webinar
  • Electronic Referral System (eRS) update
  • Babies, children and young people update 
  • Fraud alert
  • Safeguarding children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) against scam stem cell autism briefing  
  • Opportunity to work with the medicines optimisation team
  • Boiler upgrade scheme
  • Maternal mental health awareness week - Keeping well NW London
  • Training, webinars and more

Death registration process


Emailed death certificates will be rejected

When the new legislation comes into force on 9 September for changes to  the death certification process and use of the medical examiner service. Make sure several members of your practice know how to use the new referral system.

You must use the new Systmone/EMIS referral forms and process to send the medical certificate of cause of death to the medical examiner’s service.

Emailed death certificates will be rejected.

Please make sure several members of staff within your practice are trained to refer to the medical examiners service using Systmone or EMIS.

For practices who currently have one or two trained staff, please ensure training on the system is cascaded through the practice.

All deaths will have to go through this referral route from 9 September and delays will occur if the new process is not followed.

Guides for SystmOne and EMIS can be found below – along with FAQs, staff and public information on the ME service.
NEW: Medical examiner process :: North West London ICS (nwlondonicb.nhs.uk)

The NW London IT team can support practices with the set-up please contact:  tsmith8@nhs.net

Primary care webinar 


Watch the recent primary care webinar recording here. The webinar took place on Wednesday 1 May 2024.

Electronic Referral System (eRS) update 


On Sunday 28 April a change was made to e-RS to simplify the process for referring or onward referring patients to a single RAS and will apply to any initial or onward referrals made from this date.

Specifically, the ‘request’ button has now been disabled if only a single RAS service is selected (see below).

 
Only when two or more RASs are selected, or at least one bookable service is selected, will the request button be enabled to create a referral shortlist. This will mean the referrer must select the ‘book/send for triage’ button, then the ‘send for triage’ button to refer the patient to a single RAS. This change is for all referral priorities.

The 'request' button will also be disabled on the book/send for triage screen.

Babies, children and young people update


Click here to read the update. 

Fraud alert 


Our counter fraud provider has alerted us to a new company targeting GP practices by submitting false invoices for consumables, such as printer ink, that have not been purchased.

Any invoices received from Toner Expert or Office Expert UK should be thoroughly checked before any payment is made. They claim to have supplied the GP Practice with laser toner cartridges. The fraudsters operating these offences often threaten criminal or civil enforcement action to intimidate practices in to paying.

Actions

• Flag any invoices received from Toner Expert or Office Expert UK;

• Review any invoices thoroughly to ensure the goods were ordered, and received, prior to making payment,

• Do not make any payments to 04-00-75 73317519 unless you are satisfied the invoice is genuine,

• Refer any false invoices received to the NHS CFA, or to your ICB’s LCFS.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the fraud team - Nick.Jones@rsmuk.com 

Safeguarding children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) against scam stem cell autism briefing  


A warning has been issued by the safeguarding team to patients, schools and communities. 

A doctor from Bangladesh has run sessions in London for parents with children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). These sessions wrongly claimed they can cure ASD with a new treatment. The treatment they are offering is an injection of a type of blood cells called stem cells. This is an unlicensed treatment. 

Colleagues including peadiatricians strongly advise families NOT to take up this treatment. There are real risks which could be harmful for children with ASD and there is no clear evidence that this will help them. 

The doctor seems to be targeting Bangladeshi and other Asian families. The doctor is asking or £100 for an appointment, £8000 for the treatment and £350 for vitamins. He sometimes asks for this in American dollars.

This is both a medical and financial scam.

Opportunity to work with the medicines optimisation team


The North West London Medicines Optimisation Team is looking for doctors, nurses and pharmacists working in NW London to collaborate with them on optimising medicines use. 

If you are interested, please contact the Medicines Optimisation Team - nhsnwl.mpt.nhs.net

Boiler upgrade scheme 


The government have recently implemented a boiler upgrade scheme. It is available to households and small businesses. The scheme provides a grant to cover part of the cost of replacing fossil fuel heating systems.

Click here for more information. 

Maternal mental health awareness week – Keeping Well NW London


29 April – 5 May is Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week, a week dedicated to talking about mental health problems before, during and after pregnancy.  A significant proportion of the NHS and Health & Social care workforce is made up of mothers and parents, as well as those working across perinatal services.

Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week aims to raise public and professional awareness of perinatal mental health problems, advocate for women and families impacted, change attitudes and improve access to information, care and support.

You can find resources & information about getting involved with Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week here.  The Keeping Well website also has a dedicated page with more about parental wellbeing and support.

The team are here to support you. Get in touch by:     

Telephone: 0300 123 1705  
Email: keepingwell.nwl@nhs.net
Complete a self-referral form 

Education and training

Maternity clinical network


Tuesday 21 May, 1pm-2pm on MS Teams

The London Maternity Network are hosting an event for GPs across London to join and gain updates on maternity care. The webinar will focus on supporting mental health post-birth. 

This event will be jointly chaired by Sunita Sharma (London Postnatal Clinical Lead, Obstetrician) and Anu Jacob (GP, Maternity Clinical Lead SWL ICS)    
   
Please click here to register your attendance. 

The team would also appreciate if you took some time to complete the pre-event survey. Please don’t hesitate to contact Maisie.nair@nhs.net if you have any queries.

Multiple dates available for polypharmacy action learning set workshops


Cohort sixteen - 8 and 22 May, 5 June 2024
Cohort seventeen - 12 and 26 June, 10 July
Cohort eighteen - 19 June, 3 and 17 July

The National Polypharmacy Programme invites you to join the Action Learning Set (ALS) to help build GP and prescribing health care professionals’ confidence in, and understanding of, the complex issue surrounding and stopping inappropriate medicines safely. Delegates need to attend all three sessions. The ALS with also help PCNs deliver the medicines optimisation elements of the new Directed Enhanced Services contract and contributes to the QoF.

To learn more about the Polypharmacy ALS please click here, to register for either: 

Cohort 16 please click here
Cohort 17 please click here
Cohort 18 please click here

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

Polypharmacy: Prescribing safely in older people lunchtime masterclass 


13 May 2024, 12pm to 1.30pm

Join our webinar to find out why we need to be more careful about prescribing for older people, understand more about the drug metabolism in older people and some of the common safety issues.

Dr Lauren Walker Senior Clinical Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics and Internal Medicine, University of Liverpool is our Guest Speaker. The session will include therapeutics, evidence base summary and patient case study for discussion and learning, followed by a Q&A session.

Click here to book

Polypharmacy: Stopping antidepressants safely lunchtime masterclass


Tuesday 21 May 2024, 12pm to 2pm

Join Dr Mark Horowitz, author of The Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines, Clinical Research Fellow and Training Psychiatrist on stopping antidepressants safely and managing withdrawal symptoms, an essential masterclass for clinicians who prescribe these medicines.

The session will include a summary of the evidence base and patient case study for discussion and learning, followed by a Q&A session.

Click here to book. 

Lifestyle medicine webinar 


Thursday 23 May, 1.00-2.00pm on MS Teams

This webinar will focus on lifestyle medicine and key practical tips for your patients. It is intended for GPs and primary care teams. 

The webinar will be hosted by Dr Tony Willis, GP and clinical Lead for Personalised Care, Clinical Effectiveness and Diabetes for NWL

It will cover:
  • Learning about 4 lifestyle factors to reduce risk of chronic disease by 78%
  • Key principles of lifestyle medicine
  • The powerful evidence base for lifestyle medicine
  • Practical tips to support patients in making sustainable changes
Click here to register.  

If you have any queries before then, please get in touch with Kalwant.sahota@nhs.net or Eleanor.phelan@nhs.net

Polypharmacy action learning set foundation course


ICHP are pleased to announce the launch of the Polypharmacy Action Learning Set Foundation (ALSF). This is a pilot educational opportunity for primary care clinicians not yet eligible for the Polypharmacy ALS. These may include clinicians who are not yet a prescriber or prescriber for less than one year. The course content has been developed and will be delivered by Health Innovation Wessex. Cohort One is set to run on the 11th and 25th June 9.30am to 12pm.

ICHP have three spaces for this cohort, delegates must commit to both sessions.

If you would like to attend this session, please email catherine.caldwell@imperialcollegehealthpartners.com stating in no more than 100 words, why you are interested in attending. NB: There will a separate registration process for
cohort 2.

Deadline is Monday 13 May 2024.