Primary care bulletin - 25 June 2025

Welcome to this week's primary care bulletin

Key points this week include:

Tirzepatide in north west London
Cancer GP bulletin published
Update on the flu programme
Faster access, less admin with the NHS App
COVID-19 vaccination offer during the inter-seasonal period (year round vaccination offer)
Routine breast screening electronic PDF report "opt in".

Webinars and training, including:

EMIS web training

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

Please note the deadline for submissions is 3pm each Monday.

Tirzepatide in north west London

North west London is part of the national rollout of Tirzepatide (Mounjaro®), a new NHS treatment for people living with obesity and related serious health conditions. The rollout is phased, with different groups becoming eligible over time based on national clinical criteria. Timings for the rollout are being finalised and will be shared as soon as possible.

In the first phase, around 900 people in North West London are expected to qualify. Eligibility requires individuals to:

be 18+
have a BMI of 40+ (or 37.5+ for some ethnic groups)
have at least four obesity-related conditions (e.g., type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease).

Tirzepatide will only be offered as part of a comprehensive care plan that includes:

lifestyle changes
behavioural support
increased physical activity.

Plans are in place to:

expand Tier 3 Weight Management Services
improve patient education and engagement
offer personalised and group-based support.

People not eligible in the first group can still access help through their GP, local Tier 3 services, or the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme.

The NHS in north west London is committed to ensuring equitable access and will share more updates as the programme develops. Read more about NHS North West London's plans to roll out Tirzepatide.

Cancer GP bulletin published

RM Partner's Cancer GP bulletin focuses on maximising early cancer diagnosis, cancer screening and HPV vaccination.

There is an accompanying HPV vaccine in primary care presentation.

COVID-19 vaccination offer during the inter-seasonal period (year round vaccination offer)

As a reminder, the Spring 2025 campaign to all the eligible cohorts for a COVID-19 vaccination ended on Tuesday 17 June 2025.

The vaccination of severely immunosuppressed individuals (aged six months and over) continues.

Find out more.

Update on the flu programme

The following resources are available to download:

flu vaccination leaflets briefings for preschool/primary and secondary school aged children (with translations available shortly). The ‘5 reasons to have the flu vaccine’ posters and stickers can also be downloaded.
invitation letter for children aged 2-3 years old.

For any queries relating to the seasonal influenza programme, please email the flu/Covid team directly.

Faster access, less admin with the NHS App

The NHS App lets patients view their health records and book appointments without needing to call the practice. This supports autonomy, reduces admin and helps with demand management.

Feel free to share the GP screen slides or remind patients at reception. Printed materials from earlier campaigns can also be reused to reinforce this message.

Routine breast screening electronic PDF report "opt in"

The London Breast Screening Programme Administration Hub, hosted by Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, are responsible for the issuing of GP outcome reports from the NHS Breast Screening Programme.

At present, these reports are generated by the National Breast Screening System and sent to GP practices in printed and posted format.

We are looking at changing the sending of breast screening GP reports from paper to electronic PDF. If any patients are called for screening, we plan to send GP practices results by email PDF link attachment, rather than a posted paper result. The content/layout of the GP reports will remain unchanged.

Find out the benefits of this change and actions you need to take.

Education and training