GPC report 15 September 2016

GPC Report
For East and West Sussex LMCs
Dr Russell Brown
15 September 2016

The GPC met on 15 September 2016.  We started with a meeting of the GPDF, where various decisions were made and newer members of GPC were utterly confused and nonplussed.

The meeting proper was the first GPC UK meeting and unfortunately I can report very little of it for reasons of confidentiality. Which is frustrating, as ever.  What I can say is that the devolved nations are facing similar problems to us in England and solutions are proving problematic.

The new Executive team for GPC England has been announced with two new members, Dr Mark Sandford-Wood (Devon) and Dr Gavin Ralston from Birmingham.

The failure of pretty much everything and anything Capita are doing was discussed and GPC continues to take both them and NHS England to task about notes transport and everything else. The degree of incompetence in commissioning and delivery is staggering.

In the afternoon we had breakout groups to discuss a variety of topics around how general practice might be supported better and differently.

And that is all I can say I'm afraid.

The official GPC news can be found at the usual bit of the BMA website.

The next GPC meeting is in November.

I hope you have found this report helpful.  Please feedback so that I can ensure my reports are useful.

Dr Russell Brown

GPC Report 21 July 2016

GPC Report

For East and West Sussex LMCs

Dr Russell Brown

21 July 2016

The GPC met on 21 July 2016.  Apologies for the delay in getting this out to you, I have been eating and drinking too much with friends in France.  There will be no such excuses for the next report. 

Chaand Nagpaul was re-elected, unopposed, as the Chair of GPC UK and the new post of GPC England.  there have been changes which I have described in previous reports.  For a reminder, check the BMA GPC pages which can be found here.

News about a list cleansing project (again) appeared in the medical press just before the meeting.  the process was apparently to be led by Capita, which I am sure will fill colleagues with a sense of confidence, although confidence may not be the appropriate word.  However there had been no discussion about the process with us and NHS England have apologised.  Any process will need to be discussed with us and we will not accept any proposals which will damage General Practice.

Subsequent to the report about this issue, a motion was passed by GPC, a relatively unusual event.  The motion was as follows, and passed unanimously:

That GPC UK notes how the NHS England commissioned service for Primary Care support in England with Capita has seriously compromised patient safety and caused significant disruption to GP surgeries already under unprecedented workload pressures, and therefore has no confidence with these arrangements.

Furthermore GPC UK insists that the plans for removing patients from practice lists, which may be illegal and discriminatory, should be abandoned and NHS England must commit to discussions with GPC England before any further list management plans are put in place. 

Furthermore, on the day of GPC a significant event came to light regarding the so-called transformation of primary care support services.  Colleagues may have seen an article in Pulse about this issue.  In essence, in some areas where SBS had been providing support (I use the term loosely) it was discovered that a backlog of clinical correspondence and results stretching back over several years remained in storage areas and had not been processed.  The correspondence includes temporary resident forms, duplicate documents or some results and communications about treatment steps.  NHS England have undertaken a clinical review to assess any high risk correspondence.  GPC is discussing a remuneration and support package for practices which are impacted by this event.

The Carr-Hill formula review, due to be implemented in April 2017 has, utterly unsurprisingly, been delayed until 2018.  I will believe it when I see it.

There was further discussion about how to respond to the decisions reached at LMC Conference recently.  These discussions are currently confidential but as ever I will supply more information when I can.

The issue of an indemnity support scheme was discussed.  Conversations with NHS England continue but the current iteration can be found here.  It is a start but not ideal.

The official GPC news can be found at the usual bit of the BMA website.

The next GPC meeting is in September, and every two months thereafter.  So a silver-lining, you will be getting fewer of these from me!

I hope you have found this report helpful.  Please feedback so that I can ensure my reports are useful.  

Dr Russell Brown

GPC Report 16 June 2016

GPC Report

For East and West Sussex LMCs

Dr Russell Brown

16 June 2016

The GPC met on 16 June 2016. Apologies for the delay in getting this out to you.

The first meeting after the annual LMC Conference, there was much to discuss. However, as ever, much of the discussion is confidential. Additionally, the afternoon was taken up in part by Subcommittee meetings, though on this occasion the subcommittees were essentially continuing more focussed discussions as a result of the events and debates which had occurred in GPC.

Workload management was discussed and it evident that there is significant common ground between GPC and NHSE, at least in terms of context and a recognition of the crisis that is occurring in General practice. There was considerable discussion around how GPs can or could manage their workload with patient safety in mind, following on from discussions at LMC Conference. This limiting could take several forms and more info will be forthcoming in due course. The Primary Care Hub was discussed in this context too. These are suggested to provide additional capacity when general practice runs out of it. Discussions around he funding of them were varied. Whatever happens, the direction of travel is for these to be in our futures in some form or other. It is important that we not only influence but control those developments.

Colleagues may recall the Quality First templates and information released by GPC in January 2015 (yes, over a year ago). A new web portal providing easy access to the information, which is intended to be updated frequently has been published on the BMA website. A first look impressed me with its ease of navigation and usefulness, not something I have previously noted in iterations of the Bma website.

The rest of the meeting was confidential but covered areas such as the actions necessary following the LMC Conference, the GPFV and the continuing development of the MCP Voluntary contract, which is currently subject to purdah, so expect news shortly after the Referendum.

The next meeting is the first in a new GPC year in July, after the BMA's ARM in Belfast next week. There will be changes to how things work, with GPC UK becoming an entity which meets 2-3 times a year and GPC England meeting 4-5 times. This is part of the changes suggested in the Meldrum review which will hopefully strengthen the LMC/GPC relationship to the benefit of both and our constituents.

The official GPC news can be found at the usual bit of the BMA website.

I hope you have found this report helpful. Please feedback so that I can ensure my reports are useful.

Dr Russell Brown

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GPC report 21 April 2016

GPC Report
For East and West Sussex LMCs
Dr Russell Brown
21st April 2016

The GPC held its latest meeting on 21st April.

NHS England published its "General Practice: Forward View" on the morning of GPC and it formed the major part of the morning session.  It can be found on the NHSE website.   There has been significant input from GPC and work that has been ongoing has been incorporated into the document by NHSE. Nevertheless, although there is much in it which is of promise, the devil is in the detail which is apparent by its absence and the money, though seemingly a large amount, would seem to be inadequate for what is needed.  For this reason, the BMA and GPC declined to "cobadge" the document, a position at variance with that of the RCGP.  It is certainly a starting point and an acknowledgement of the crisis that exists but it is not a rescue package that would be recognisable to most GPs. GPC will engage with NHSE to thrash out the necessary details.  An email has already gone out from Chaand Nagpaul to GPs which is available on the BMA website.  As you might imagine, I have my own views on the document but I would be interested to hear your views so I can properly represent them during discussions at GPC.

The afternoon was taken up considering a report by the GPC reform task group, chaired by previous GPC chair and chair of BMA council Hamish Meldrum. You may recall an extensive and lengthy piece of work has been going on to consider reformation of GPC and how it interacts with and answers to LMCs. This work is near completion and the report will be published next week, with a commentary from the GPC executive team generated by this afternoon's debate, in time to go out with the documents associated with the forthcoming Annual Conference of LMCs. Many of the recommendations require discussion at Conference or by the wider BMA before moving forward.  Some require changes to standing orders and bylaws of the Association. However, several are in the gift of GPC and were decided on at the meeting.  Details are currently embargoed until the paper is formally published. That being the case, there may be a short addendum to my report next week with more details. If anything more illuminating is released from the centre before then, I will let you know.

I hope you have found this report helpful.  Please feedback so that I can ensure my reports are useful.

Dr Russell Brown

GPC report 17 March 2016

GPC Report

For East and West Sussex LMCs

Dr Russell Brown

17th March 2016

The GPC held its latest meeting on 17th of March.

This month's report is, you might notice, short. There could be several reasons for this, including fatigue, ennui, complacency or irritability. However, because the meeting this month was short, being a morning only with subcommittee meetings in the afternoon and because much of the meeting was considering matters which must currently remain confidential there is little I can say.

We were however joined by Dr A Lupo, the President of UEMO, who described how primary care was in his home country of Italy, where family doctors (independent contractors in the main) are in dispute with their government and who have recently postponed a 48 hour strike to allow negotiations to proceed. 

There was a presentation about DevoManc and how it is moving ahead. It was noticeable that there is much risk involved and that, although we were reassured that GPs are fully engaged, local GPC reps have a different view.

An update on the Urgent Prescription for General Practice campaign was given by Beth McCarron Nash.  It has apparently been quite successful, though I am unclear by what measure. It, together with the Quality First documents, are to be commended to you as they assist you in protecting yourself in various ways.

In the afternoon, the subcommittee I sit on, the Commissioning and Services Development Subcommittee, met.  Unfortunately it mostly discussed specific parts of the same issue as the morning which I am unable to report and so, like the information from the morning session, I am unable to report it. 

And that is, my friends, about all I can tell you from this month!  The next meeting will be in April, with the Annual Conference of LMCs being in May. 

To sign off, I will abuse my position to remind you of a survey being run by my organisation, Resilient GP in collaboration with both GP Survival and Londonwide LMCs, on a suggested rescue package for general practice. At the time of writing it has attracted over 2400 responses (in less than four days).  I would be delighted if you would consider completing the survey, which is not meant to provide any statistically significant output but be a cause of conversation in the corridors of influence. And as several people have asked me about the correct way to rank the questions, please consider whether the most popular song in the charts is called "the number one in the pop parade" or not.  Thank you very much! 

Here is a link:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GPrescuepackage

Happy Easter or indeed any other festival you may choose to celebrate or indulge in!

I hope you have found this report helpful.  Please feedback so that I can ensure my reports are useful.  

Dr Russell Brown