Primary care bulletin - 10 September 2025

Rob Hurd, CEO of NHS North West London, thanks system colleagues

Rob Hurd, CEO of NHS North West London and North West London ICS, will be leaving his post on 12 September 2025.

Rob said: “I am proud to have led the set-up of one of the most successful ICBs in the country, building on the partnership working of my predecessors to improve health and care outcomes for people in north west London.

“By working as a system, we have delivered significant improvements since 2021. We have ensured that our communities are at the heart of what we do, through an innovative approach to public involvement and by using insights from residents to inform our priorities. Our research and innovation and digital strategy leads the way within the NHS. We have also kept a relentless focus on value for money and improving productivity, resulting in financial balance each year.

“Most importantly, I want to say thank you to my colleagues and partners for their continued support and challenge, for helping us to build successful partnerships, and for delivering for our communities in north west London."

The new CEO will be announced shortly.

It is Know Your Numbers! Week

Know Your Numbers! Week is a national campaign led by Blood Pressure UK to raise awareness about the importance of knowing your blood pressure numbers. Taking place from 8 to 14 September 2025, the week encourages everyone to get their blood pressure checked and take simple steps to look after their heart health.

Find out why it matters to your patients.

COVID-19 seasonal vaccination programme – Autumn/Winter 2025 - vaccinations available from 1 October 2025

Identifying, inviting (or signposting) and vaccination of persons aged 6 months and over who are immunosuppressed

In June 2025, the Government accepted final Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advice and announced the cohort eligibility (advice accepted on autumn 2025 COVID-19 vaccination programme) regarding a COVID-19 Autumn/Winter 2025/26 vaccination programme.

This means that a COVID-19 booster dose will be made available to individuals aged 6 months and over who are immunosuppressed, as defined in COVID-19: the green book, chapter 14a; Tables 3 and 4 (Greenbook chapter 14a).

The national call/recall service will invite and remind eligible people (including those who are immunosuppressed) to get their COVID-19 vaccination this Autumn/Winter 2025.

The NHS North West London COVID-19 website is updated with the listings of confirmed vaccination centres and pharmacy sites within each borough, where people can book (via national booking system) or walk-in for their COVID-19 booster vaccination from 1 October 2025.

Please also note that not all sites offer vaccination to children, so patients should contact the site in advance if child vaccination is required.

Any patient querying where they can get a booster vaccination can be directed to this NHS North West London webpage.

Find out what you need to do.

Windows 11 update

NHS North West London are aware of concerns regarding the compatibility of medical equipment in general practice with Windows 11 which is due for rollout by mid October 2025. NHS North West London ICT teams are evaluating both internally and also liaising with NHS England, system manufacturers, and suppliers to address the following:

cybersecurity implications
prevention of service disruption
clinical safety
potential short and longer term solutions.

This work is currently in the discovery phase. Surveys have been sent four times to all practices and PCNs over the past 2 months to assess the scope of concerns. Solutions are also being evaluated including financial implications and support. Updates will be shared once recommendations have been agreed via the usual formal governance channels of the ICB.

For any practices and PCNs who have not yet completed the survey please do so by COP 12 September 2025.

Please contact Candice Clark if you have any further queries.

NHS North West London joins rollout of neighbourhood health services

The Government has announced the first 43 locations (across the country) to launch neighbourhood health services, two are in north west London.

Hillingdon and Regents Health Westminster will be among the first neighbourhood health services in the country. The announcement comes with funding to develop and rollout this first wave of neighbourhood services, that will work to tackle health inequalities and improve waiting times.

Find out more.

Residents can help shape maternity care for black families

Please encourage eligible patients to joint a powerful, community-led event where lived experience meets action. Together participants will develop a community advocate model that improves maternity care for Black families in north west London.

The poster includes details about who can take part and how to register.

GP contract changes

Following the letter of 19 August 2025 from NHS England about implementing key changes to the GP contract in 2025/6, we have prepared a reminder, which contains a number of actions practices which must completed by 1 October 2025.

Education and training

Get enabled for GP Connect Access Record and Update Record – join our quick and easy webinars

GP Practices in England are required to enable GP Connect Access Record (HTML and structured) and GP Connect Update Record by 1 October 2025 as a contractual requirement.

To support busy London GP practices, we’re hosting a short regional webinar to quickly show you what you need to do if you are unsure.

Led by Dr Shanker Vijay (GP), the 15-minute session will walk you through exactly how to configure your clinical system — whether you’re using Optum EMIS, TPP SystmOne, or Medicus.

Details of the webinars:

Tuesday 23 September 2025, 1pm. Join at the start of the session
Wednesday 9 October 2025, 1pm (if there was any reason you could not meet the 1 October 2025 deadline) . Join at the start of the session.

Find out more about what to expect.

Primary care systems training

The primary care systems training schedule for September and October 2025 is now available. To book on to these courses, please go to the North West London Learning Hub.