Dear colleagues,
This is the first of our regular newsletter. We would like to introduce you to your Brent Local Medical Committee and keep you updated with our work.
Our committee:
- Dr Jahan Mahmoodi (Chair), Hazeldene Medical Centre
- Dr Prakash Chatlani (Vice-Chair), Roundwood Park Medical Centre
- Dr Milind Bhatt, Sunflower Medical Centre
- Dr Amanda Craig, Staverton Surgery
- Dr Michael Edbury, Stanley Corner Medical Centre
- Dr Mahima Garrani, Harrow Road Surgery
- Dr Neeta Ghosh-Chowdhury, Hilltop Medical Practice
- Dr Anne Murphy, Ellis Practice
- Dr Ashwin Patel, Preston Medical Centre
- Dr Nisheeth Rajpal, Preston Medical Centre
- Dr Thulasi Vallipuranathan, Forty Willows Surgery
- Dr Ahila Yogendra, Church Lane Surgery
VTS Reps are:
- Dr William Ackernle, The Wilsden Medical Centre
- Dr Vaishali Ferizoli, Stanley Corner Medical Centre
Practice Managers observers are David Hunter (Kings Edge Medical Centre) and Shahla Jamal (SMS Medical Practice).
What is the LMC and what do we do?
The Local Medical Committee (LMC) works on your behalf to represent the interest of all GPs in Brent. We are here for partners, salaried GPs, locums and those working in non-traditional GP roles. If you have a difficult work-related issue then our GP support team may be able to help – they can be contacted at GPSupport@lmc.org.uk.At this time of unprecedented pressure on GPs and practice staff across General Practice. The need for a strong professional voice has never been greater. The LMC offers stability, continuity and independent expertise across all aspects of general practice – by general practice, for general practice – from engaging with systems across North West London to support individual GPs, and everything in between.
As a committee we are keen to provide support and guidance for all categories of local GPs and their practices on a range of issues, including contractual, partnership, estates, performance and other issues. We also provide advice and support to navigate GPs on the GP Contract as well as Enhanced Services. We have built a strong relationship with Brent ICB, which we continue to build on and our committee members attend meetings with NWL ICB for wider NWL issues.
What has Brent LMC been working on recently?
Safe Working:
- Primary/Secondary Care Interface – We continue to push back on all the inappropriate workload dumping that is taking place. Please do share any examples that you have.
- Raising concerns to the Borough and NWL ICB regarding the inequity for Mental Health Provisions for Asylum Seekers.
Stabilisation:
- Pushing back on the Same Day Access Proposals for 24/25, current discussions are ongoing about the encouraging a quality improvement approach to inform thinking for 25/26.
- Providing feedback and reviewing specifications for the new services as part of the Single Offer Enhanced Services. For example, Dashboard data inconsistencies, challenges with Paediatric Phlebotomy for 2-5 year olds and template issues.
Attrition:
- Building relationships with key stakeholders including Healthwatch, The Local Pharmacy Committee, PCN CD’s, and Brent Borough team.
- Brent Borough Liaison meetings with the Borough team raising concerns affecting Brent GP’s and Practices which have recently included Estates, Funding Streams, SMI, and Integrated Care Networks.
- Attending Brent Bi-monthly PCEG meetings.
Hospital requests for non-contractual tasks
Londonwide LMCs has created template letters to help practices push back on un-resourced work transfer from secondary care to general practice. This template letter explains that due to extreme workload pressures and demand, practices have no capacity for non-contractual tasks which sit outside of the ‘core’ GP contract, such as following up investigations, taking on inappropriate prescribing and tasks like post-operative checks. We recommend that it is uploaded to your clinical system so that copies can be sent to Trusts and patients as appropriate. More information can be found here and a copy of the template letter here.
General Practice Alert State (GPAS) – Anonymised GP led pressures reporting
Londonwide LMCs and other LMCs nationally are rolling out the GP alert system (GPAS). We began this in 2022 and to date GPAS is now operating in 16 of our London Boroughs, with the remaining will be going live between July and September this year. GPAS will help to inform the rest of the NHS on the pressures faced by general practice and will change the narrative, so that pressure in general practice is considered a system problem rather than an individual practice’s failings.
It is important that we demonstrate this to the rest of the NHS system and if we don’t do this ourselves, the ICBs will implement their own data gathering process. We have this short window of opportunity to implement a system for ourselves, led by the LMC and to do this effectively we need practices to sign up.
As part of this we have now updated our guidance on GPAS levels giving clear ratios of FTE GPs to registered patients and of available GPs to patient appointments provided. The guidance also now details what measures practices can take when they reach an escalated GPAS level, such as amber or red, to mitigate some of the pressures on them. GPAS is based on three variables: workload, workforce and clinical administration. All three need to be considered when assessing your rating as green, amber, red or black. You can read more on this here.
Easy sign-up
Your sector teams here at Londonwide will support you and the process to do this is very simple. Submit your practices details here to sign-up. Following this, all you will need is one person within the practice to fill in a form of six questions every week taking only 3 minutes of practice time to give the rich data we need to be able to put forward our case.
Speaking up for general practice
At present, all practices are struggling to meet demand and due to this, workload is becoming unmanageable and unsafe. Practices often feel powerless to do anything to control this for fear of being in breach of contract. The BMA (British Medical Association) has produced its guidance on, Safe Working in General Practice and we encourage you to read this.
Remember GPAS is a system set up by general practice for general practice. The data is anonymous and is collected by your trusted partner Londonwide LMCs to enable us to show our pressures against the OPEL system used by hospital trusts and ambulance services.
Be part of the opportunity to control our own narrative. The more practices engaged with this the more powerful the data becomes.
BMA non-statutory ballot of GP contract holders is open now: “Are you prepared to undertake one or more examples of collective action as outlined in the BMA campaign to Protect Your Patients, Protect Your Practice?”
The GP BMA online ballot opened on 17 June, and closes on Friday 29 July. Please please please participate! To ensure you have a say you must be a GP contractor/ partner member of the BMA. Non-members can join now for 3-months free membership.
Alongside the ballot will be information about a menu of actions which will not breach GP contracts, but which collectively, will have a significant impact on ‘the system’. The time to act is now!
Resources available
- Patient information videos
- GP and Practice staff training
- Advertise practice vacancies for free
- Safety First – Safety Resource Pack
- Londonwide LMCs Training events
- GP Support for matters including CQC inspections, performance concerns, partnership issues, employment concerns and others. If you are struggling with any such issues, please contact GPSupport@lmc.org.uk
Get in touch!
All constituents can raise any issues of concern with the LMC at any time. It would be great to hear from constituents on any feedback or issue you may have from operational concerns with NWL Enhanced Services Single Offer. Please feel free to contact amy.honor@lmc.org.uk.
Thank you for those of you who contact LMC committee members about issues as they arise. We rely on you to know where support is needed and are grateful for your queries. LMC members are keen to hear from our local GPs and practice teams about any issues you are facing.
Yours faithfully,
Dr Jahan Mahmoodi, Chair – Brent LMC
Londonwide LMCs’ NWL LMC Team
Amy Honor, Committee Liaison Executive – amy.honor@lmc.org.uk
Dr Asiya Yunus, LMC Secretary/Medical Director – contactable via Amy Honor
Jamie Wright, Director of Primary Care – contactable via Amy Honor
Lesley Williams, Assistant Director of Primary Care – contactable via Amy Honor