Primary care bulletin  - 16 October 2024
Bulletin:
Join us at the Health Equity Summit; Wellbeing support for staff; Fraud alert; and more.

Welcome to this week's primary care bulletin

Key points this week include:
  • Join us at the Health Equity Summit
  • Nominate your community hero in the 2024 Health Equity Awards
  • Wellbeing support for staff
  • Fraud alert: fake conferences
  • Subscribe to NW London Kidney Care podcast
Webinars and training, including:
  • Primary care systems training
  • Bitesize cancer education sessions
  • NHS North West London Big Green Medicines Webinar
  • REGO - Advice & Guidance Overview/Q&A Sessions
  • Calling practice pharmacists and PCN staff managing chronic pain
  • Heart failure in primary care webinar
  • Chronic pain in primary care and opioid harm reduction programme MDT for Brent, Harrow and Hammersmith and Fulham patients 

If you have any submissions for this bulletin please email them to the communications inbox - nhsnwl.communications.nwl@nhs.net

Deadline for content is 3pm Monday

To view any previous editions click here
Join us at the Health Equity Summit 2024

North West London Integrated Care System (NW London ICS) is holding its annual Health Equity Summit on Monday 18 November 2024, 8.45am - 5pm.

This year’s focus is Empowering Communities for More Equitable Health Outcomes. Join us to learn from, discuss, and contribute to solutions for the North West London population. The summit will bring together leaders from a wide range of organisations, to raise our health equity ambitions even further and create the cross-system connections. This will help to make a real difference to residents in NW London.

The summit will take place at St Mary's Church, Bryanston Square, on York Street, W1H 1PQ. Baker Street, Marylebone and Edgeware Road stations are under 10 minutes’ walk away.

The event is open to NHS staff, local authority representatives (including public health), primary care staff and others who work in our system. Representatives from the community and voluntary sector are also cordially invited.

You can find out more about the summit and register here.
Nominate your community hero in the 2024 Health Equity Awards

North West London's Health Equity programme is seeking nominees for awards
for the category of:

Recognising NW London heroes who are empowering communities.

If you would like to nominate person or organisation from the NW London voluntary sector, NHS or local authority who has contributed to reducing health inequalities in their communities, please share your nomination by 6 November 2024.

To nominate a hero - please complete this short form.

The winners will be announced at the ICS Health Equity Summit on 18 November.

You can read about last year’s winners here.
Wellbeing support for staff

18 October 2024 marks World Menopause Day. Menopause can have a huge impact on women’s wellbeing with 3 in 4 women experiencing symptoms and 70% of women experiencing stress related to this transition.

The NICE guidelines now recommend CBT as a form of support for women who may be experiencing symptoms of low mood, anxiety, hot flushes and sleep problems due to menopause. For more information on menopause you can visit our website. You can also make a self-referral to the Keeping Well team to access CBT support through our talking therapies teams. 

October is Stopbober. Even if it’s your first time or you’ve tried before, Stoptober gives you the perfect opportunity to quit smoking. If you stay smoke-free for 28 days, you’re 5 times more likely to quit for good.

With the right support, quitting is easier than you think. Start planning today by checking out free NHS tools and tips to help you stay on track. 

We are here to support local staff. Get in touch with us by:    
Telephone: 0300 123 1705    
Email: keepingwell.nwl@nhs.net    

Complete a self-referral form 
Fraud alert: fake conferences

Our Counter Fraud team has been advised of potentially fraudulent conferences being advertised to the health sector.

Conferenceseries.com advertise a large number of conferences in different specialisms and countries, but provide vague information on the content, and no precise locations. Once staff have signed up and paid a €499 fee the conferences are frequently rescheduled and/or cancelled, and no refunds are provided.

Reviews on Trustpilot indicate numerous complaints and no evidence of conferences actually existing.

Before booking any conferences staff are advised to verify that there is a specific date and location, and follow your relevant procedures.
Subscribe to NW London Kidney Care podcast

The North West London Kidney Care podcast, hosted by Consultant Nephrologists Andrew Frankel and Jeremy Levy from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, offers concise, 15-minute episodes to support healthcare professionals, especially in primary care, with the latest insights on kidney health. Topics include chronic kidney disease (CKD), hyperkalaemia, heart failure, and practical tips for applying local CKD guidelines.

Created by a team of nephrologists, kidney nurse specialists, and GPs, the podcast shares knowledge gained from years of collaboration in improving kidney care integration across primary and secondary services. With expert contributions and innovative solutions like the Kidney Virtual Clinic, the series provides a convenient way to stay informed. Listen here for the trailer and subscribe to the show.

Education and training
Primary care systems training

We would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to the Primary Care Systems Training Team, see the attached introduction to the Primary Care Systems Training Team document.
 
For details for the  Primary Care Systems Training Schedule for October, November, December 2024 and January 2025, please see attached documents for EMIS and SystmOne. To book on to these courses, please click on the link NW London Learning Hub.
NHS North West London Big Green Medicines Webinar

To support the NHS net zero ambition, the pharmacy team invite you to attend the NW London Big Green Medicines Webinar, which aims to celebrate the successful and on-going green and sustainable medicines project. The webinar will be taking place on Wednesday 16 October 2024 from 9am - 1pm via MS Teams. Click here to join.

Climate change is a health emergency. If the NHS is to deliver on the ambition of the long-term-plan, improving health now and for future generations, it must tackle climate change at the source. In October 2020, the NHS became the world’s first health system to commit to reaching net zero carbon and medicines account for 25% of emissions within the NHS.

To find out more about what will be discussed, please take a look at the agenda as attached.
REGO - advice and guidance overview/Q&A sessions

We would like to invite you to attend a REGO - Advice & Guidance Overview/Q&A Session delivered by the Rego team.

The 60 minute sessions will include:
  • Accessing Rego - SystmOne / EMIS
  • Complete and send referrals (reducing rejections and best practice)
  • Referral tracking
  • Followed by Q&A session.
Please secure your place by booking on to one of the sessions via the NW London Learning Hub -  REGO - Advice & Guidance Overview.
Please do not hesitate to contact the Primary Care Systems Training Team via the IT Service Desk on 020 3350 4050 or email nhsnwl.servicedesk@nhs.net if you have any queries.
Bitesize cancer education sessions

Free bitesize cancer education are being delivered in close collaboration with Gateway C. Learning resources have also been developed.

See the attached for further details.
Calling practice pharmacists and PCN staff managing chronic pain

Managing chronic pain, particularly when discussing deprescribing, can be complex. Connect Health (NW London MSK Partnership provider) are offering an opportunity to enhance your approach with evidence-based strategies designed to empower your patients in managing their pain more effectively.

This tailored program for practice pharmacists and PCN staff will enable you to:
  • Adopt a coaching mindset to support chronic pain management
  • Communicate the latest insights on chronic pain with confidence
  • Promote non-pharmacological alternatives to improve patient outcomes
  • Refine your consultation skills to foster patient engagement and support deprescribing.
The course consists of two interactive sessions, available in December, please click here to register your interest.

Feel free to circulate this invite to other NW London pharmacists and PCN staff who may be interested. 
Heart failure in primary care webinar

On behalf of Dr Carla Plymen  (Heart Failure Lead, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust), we would like to invite you to the upcoming CVD webinar on “Heart Failure in Primary Care” on Tuesday 19 November 2024, 12 - 1pm. 

In this interactive session, we will provide a comprehensive overview of heart failure, its importance in clinical practice. Review referrals pathways to NW London Heart Failure services and medications utilised. Additionally, we will introduce the Heart Failure Pages on the MyHealth LDN site, a valuable resource for both patients and healthcare professionals. You will have the opportunity to put forward any questions to the panel in a Q&A. 

Please click here to register for the session.  

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

For further information and/or to get involved with the ICHP CVD education series please contact  

chanelle.corena@imperialcollegehealthpartners.com or catherine.caldwell@imperialcollegehealthpartners.com 
Chronic pain in primary care and opioid harm reduction programme MDT for Brent, Harrow and Hammersmith and Fulham patients 

On behalf of Dr Ian Bernstein (Responsible Officer and Musculoskeletal Physician Connect Health), we would like to invite you to the upcoming Chronic Pain in Primary Care and Opioid Harm Reduction Programme MDT meeting on 28 November 2024, 12 - 1.30pm. You are welcome to refer patients even if formal reviews have not yet begun or simply attend to listen to the discussions or theoretical cases presented by others.  

Please click here to register for the session. 

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

We hope to have attendance from practice and PCN clinical pharmacists, social prescribing link workers, health coaches, care coordinators, GPs, the community MSK pain team, and Imperial College Health Partners. Please forward this invitation to your practice and PCN teams, as well as the invitees listed above, as we do not have their contact details. Even if you do not have a case to discuss, there is much to be learned from hearing how others are managing chronic pain. Feel free to join or leave the meeting as your schedule permits; we understand your time is valuable. 

For further information and/or to get involved with the Chronic Pain in Primary Care & Opioid Harm Reduction Programme please contact catherine.caldwell@imperialcollegehealthpartners.com