Primary care bulletin - 18 March 2026

Changes to the Primary Care Bulletin from 1 April 2026

On 1 April 2026, NHS North West London will become part of NHS West and North London, following merger with North Central London. We are working towards migrating north west London information to the existing north central London GP website and providing one primary care update.

This is likely to take a number of months.

In the interim we will continue to send this bulletin to north west London GPs but it will be sent every other week.

Don’t forget you can find pathways, protocols and information on the professionals section of the website.

We will keep you advised as this work progresses, via the primary care bulletin.

‘In progress’ Universal Care Plan forms to be removed

Further to our previous communication regarding upcoming changes to the Universal Care Plan (UCP), we can now confirm that the option to save information as ‘in progress’ for six forms will be removed on Tuesday 14 April 2026.

From this date, any information still saved as ‘in progress’ in these forms will be removed from the system. This change is required to prepare for editable access for Londoners, which will enable individuals to co-author appropriate sections of their care plan.

Your action: please review and submit any ‘in progress’ forms before 14 April 2026 to avoid information being removed.

The six forms affected are:

personal Information
personal and professional contacts
communication and accessibility
what matters to them
thinking ahead
daily activities and support needs.

Information on how to find and submit ‘in progress’ forms is contained within an instructions document (PDF).

Gynaecology service waiting times at Hillingdon Hospital

There has been a recent reduction in wait times for first consultation in the Gynaecology service at The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The wait time for the first appointment is now four weeks.

Since September 2025, the department has experienced a reduction in patient referrals. Despite this, the trust's teams have implemented several innovative service improvements which have resulted in reduced waiting times for first outpatient appointments across all clinics, routine, urgent and 2ww clinics. In addition, with improved pathways to timely access to their diagnostic pathways, their teams are able to provide a highly personalised treatment plans.

Thanks to streamlined triage processes and the optimisation of available outpatient clinic sessions, they are currently able to offer shorter waits for new appointments than you have noticed in the ERS system. Their wait time for first appointment is four weeks for routine.

Given this improved position, please continue referring patients who require access to the hospital's gynaecology service. This will allow them to ensure patients in the local Hillingdon and neighbouring boroughs can continue receiving timely, high‑quality surgical care close to home.

If you have any questions regarding referral criteria, clinical pathways, or capacity, please do not hesitate to contact our team directly.

Please can we also take this opportunity to let you know that we are planning to reinstate our GP Masterclass sessions in March 2026. This will provide an opportunity to meet in person, share updates on our services here at the Hospital, and discuss a range of topical subjects relating to various patient conditions. Further information, including details on how to register and access the sessions, will be shared soon.

Pharmacy opening hours for the 2026 Easter weekend

Bank holidays can affect the opening hours of local pharmacies. The table (PDF) provides the opening hours for pharmacies in north west London, which have been asked to open over the Easter weekend, 3 – 6 April 2026.

It is important patients collect order and collect their prescriptions in advance to ensure they have enough supply during this period.

There may be additional pharmacies opening which are not listed. If a pharmacy they would like to visit is not listed here, then they can check their opening hours by searching at NHS 'find a pharmacy'. NHS 111 (online or by phone) can also advise on emergency prescriptions and pharmacy consultations, ensuring patients get the medication they need quickly and conveniently.

Antimicrobial stewardship: Key resources for north west London

The NHS North West London Medicines Optimisation Team recently convened PCN pharmacists for a TARGET training workshop, marking the launch of the new Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) Champions network. The session offered a chance to share local insights and highlight the importance of consistent stewardship. Please consider using key AMS resources in daily practice, including the TARGET Antibiotics Toolkit with multilingual patient leaflets and diagnostic guides, and the NW London Antimicrobial Prescribing Primary Care Guidelines and back‑up antibiotic prescribing pack.

Newly diagnosed Parkinson’s information session for patients

GPs are asked to signpost patients to sessions for those who have recently been diagnosed with Parkinson. Patients will hear from a range of clinicians, including a Parkinson's nurse, dietician and neurologists, depending upon availability.

Sessions take place at Charing Cross Hospital, Hammersmith, but participants can also join online.

Further information and booking details can be found on the Team's event page.

The team have also produced a resource pack (PDF) and an information pack (PDF).

Local alcohol and drug support services in Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea

Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea Councils offer free, confidential alcohol and drug support for adults and young people. This includes support for homeless people. Signpost the patients to the services outlined in this document (PDF).

RM Partners Research and Innovation fund for 2026/2027

RM Partners are pleased to announce the launch of the 4th round of the RM Partners Research and Innovation Fund for 2026/2027 and invite expressions of interest to be submitted for an opportunity to be awarded up to £200,000 to deliver a project across north west and south west London.

The aim of the RM Partners research and innovation fund is to provide cancer researchers, clinicians and non-clinicians in north west and south west London the opportunity to deliver significant projects that support the goals of RM Partner's Five Year Strategy and the recently published National Cancer Plan for England. Cancer Alliance research and innovation includes real-world implementation of innovations, where the scale of the Alliance population and clinical engagement and partnership drives rapid generation of evidence and adoption to serve our patient population.

Areas of priority this year include:

cancer prevention
equity in access and outcomes
earlier diagnosis or improved survival in cancers where there has been little or no improvement in survival, such as pancreas, liver, oesophagus, ovarian cancers
sustainable delivery models of personalised care in neighbourhood health settings
technology to improve timely access to cancer-directed treatment.

Application guidance (PDF) is available.

Additional FAQs and timelines can be found on the RM Partners website (click on the 2026/27 programme to expand)

A short Q&A session may be held online if there are enough requests, please send to RM Partners to register your interest.

The deadline for submission using the EOI template (Word document) is COP Friday 24 April 2026. Please share this with amongst your network and colleagues.

Invitation to support primary care research

The Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at University of Oxford, is inviting general practitioners and primary care pharmacists in England to take part in a study exploring your views on assessing penicillin allergy in your workplace.

If you take part, you’ll be invited to a 45‑minute online interview and reimbursed for your time.

Find out more in the advertisement (PDF).

Education and training