Primary care bulletin - 1 October 2025

New Chief Executive Officer for North Central London and North West London Integrated Care Boards announced

Frances O’Callaghan has been announced as the Chief Executive Officer for North Central London and North West London Integrated Care Boards (ICBs).

Frances has now begun the role as CEO of North West London ICB, while continuing in her position as CEO of the North Central London ICB – which she has held since 2022.

The new joint CEO role was put in place to enable the two ICBs to work towards a formal merger in April 2026 as part of a move to deliver cost savings, become a highly effective strategic commissioner and continue to deliver for local people.

The merged organisation, which will be called West and North London ICB, will be the largest in England — covering 13 London boroughs and serving a population of around 4.5m people.

Find out more about Frances.

Cervical Screening London update

The latest edition of the cervical sample takers newsletter from Cervical Screening London has been published. This edition covers the following:

reminder of the zero tolerance policy for samples received with an absent or invalid sample takers PIN
annual cervical sample takers audit
NHS cancer screening updates
cervical screening non-responder reports
digital results via NHS App.

Winter vaccines video resources

A set of short videos has been created to support winter vaccination uptake across north west London. The videos highlight the importance of flu, COVID-19 and other recommended vaccines for groups most at risk, including young children, those who are pregnant and people aged 65 and over.

Practices are kindly encouraged to use these resources by adding them to waiting room screens and sharing them more widely with patients and local communities. Please note there are versions with and without sound.

Thank you for your continued support in helping to keep people well and protected this winter.

Update regarding paracetamol and pregnancy

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency have published an update on Paracetamol and pregnancy..

Patients should be reminded and reassured that no evidence taking paracetamol during pregnancy causes autism in children. Paracetamol is recommended as the first-choice pain reliever for pregnant women, used at the lowest dose and for the shortest duration. It also acts as an antipyretic and is therefore used to treat fever.

New London home oxygen service contract

The London home oxygen service contract has been awarded to Baywater Healthcare and will begin on 5 October 2025.

This new contract will ensure continuity of the existing service, with minimal impact on patients currently receiving home oxygen. The home oxygen technicians who support patients under the current contract will transfer to Baywater Healthcare, helping to provide a smooth transition and ongoing consistency of care.

A joint communication has already been sent to patients on behalf of Baywater Healthcare and Air Liquide, explaining the upcoming change. For your reference, we have attached a copy of the patient letter and Baywater’s Sunshine newsletter.

If patients contact you with questions, please reassure them that their oxygen supply will continue without interruption and direct them to the Baywater Healthcare helpline on 0800 373 580.

If you have any questions in relation to the contract, please email the London Home Oxygen Service Team.

Clinical Systems Experience Survey for General Practice launches

The Transformation Directorate at NHS England has launched its first survey focusing on general practice colleagues’ experiences with the Clinical Systems Experience Survey for General Practice.

Like the EPR Usability Survey which looked at acute, community, mental health and ambulance settings, this survey is looking into digital tools used in general practice, looking to use these insights to shape NHS England’s future investment in general practice digital systems and guide how ICBs support local practice.

The NHS England London Chief Nursing Information Officer Team is encouraging primary care nurses to have their say, but the survey is applicable to anyone – clinical and non-clinical professions working in primary care.

How you can support:

please share that this survey is now live amongst your networks, and in your meetings
complete the survey if you’re working in general practice
repost, comment and/or like on social media.

Helen Balsdon LinkedIn (from the nurse perspective)
Transformation Directorate LinkedIn (general all-staff perspective)

If you would like to produce your own communications, you can access the official comms pack by joining the PCNs and Practice Support Hub NHS Futures site.

If you need any further help, or have any questions please email James Lane.

Social media use and professional conduct

A recent incident highlighted concerns about a social media post where an individual appeared to portray themselves as a healthcare professional while recording content online at work. The investigation confirmed uncertainty regarding the person’s professional status, but it raised important reminders about responsible social media use and adherence to professional codes of conduct for all staff.

Please read the full guidance document.

Online consultation switch on from 1 October 2025

All practices will be required to have their online consultation system available during core hours for non-urgent appointment requests, medication queries and admin requests from 1 October 2025.

Support for practices with meeting this requirement is available from a wide range of resources, including case studies of practices who have already successfully adopted this approach and practical tips, advice and insight from localities in a series of joint NHS Confederation and NHS England webinars (login required). There are three sessions, which feature GPs and their teams from across England, including Doncaster, Devon and Hereford, and they outline how they manage patient requests throughout the day and use of data to allocate resources and develop services for the benefit of patients and the practice.

NHS Resolution have confirmed that the Clinical Negligence Scheme for General Practice (CNSGP) will provide indemnity cover for claims arising from triaging patients’ healthcare requests, including for appointments requested or booked online, as part of primary medical services provided under a GP contract in England.

New Universal Care Plan release taking place this week

This update will:

enable medications and allergies to automatically transfer into the Universal Care Plan system in real time using a GP connect integration, reducing the risk of discrepancies and errors
introduce multi-factor authentication, further strengthening the security of the system.

Education and training

Addressing Systemic Discrimination and Reducing Inequalities Across the Cancer Pathway development sessions

RM Partners NW & SW London Cancer Alliance are delighted to launch the CPD Accredited Addressing Systemic Discrimination and Reducing Inequalities Across the Cancer Pathway development sessions delivered by Health Innovation Network South London and brap.

There are various sessions in October. Find out more and book now.

Newly diagnosed Parkinson's patient information session

Please encourage your patients to sign up to this session for patients. Further details and booking information are available.

Monthly user group meetings - next meeting on transgender health

The Primary Care Facilitation team hold monthly digital, data and technology user group meetings for all practice staff. Each month has a focus and October’s focus is Transgender Health.

The upcoming sessions take place on the following dates:

Central, West and Hammersmith & Fulham - Thursday 9 October 2025, 12 - 1pm
Brent and Harrow - Thursday 9 October 2025, 1 - 2pm
Ealing and Hounslow - Tuesday 14 October 2025, 1 - 2pm.

Email the Service Desk to be added to the distribution list for these sessions.

Inviting all PCN and practice staff - streamlining practice workload with JOY

We're excited to announce upcoming demo and training sessions for JOY Connect, the new upgrade to the referral platform which will soon be rolled out across NHS North West London primary care.

These sessions will give clinicians a chance to:

see how JOY Connect works in practice
understand how it integrates with EMIS and SystmOne
learn how it supports easier referrals and signposting to local services.

Find out more. There are multiple dates available.

NHS app training

Do you want to understand how the NHS App works, explore its key features and learn how to support patients in using it effectively?

Join our NHS App Training sessions hosted on Teams by the Primary Care Systems Training Team.

Discover the benefits for both patients and your practice and gain practical tips to help drive adoption.

There are various dates available. Book your place now via the North West London Learning Hub.