Dear colleagues,
Reasons to be cheerful part 1: we have a great new committee, diverse in many ways and I am confident that collectively we represent Lambeth General Practice in its rich variety. Membership is listed on the Londonwide LMCs website. Reasons to be cheerful part 2: GPCE England’s confirmation of uplift to Global Sum to support practices to offer a 6% pay increase to all employed staff. The calculations are not easy to follow, but this is a welcome precedent.
In our first formal meeting of the new committee, we focused on problems at the primary/secondary care interface, and IT/digital concerns. Lambeth members of the ICB team heard our concerns about:
- SMS fragment limitations,
- Accelerated Access to GP-held Records,
- Delays in Radiology reporting at GSTT,
- Anxieties around EPIC go-live on 5/10/2 and associated projects.
Most of these are not specific to Lambeth, and colleagues undertook to escalate where they can. At a minimum, you should all have been receiving the EPIC update emails in the last week.
At a wider level, the six chairs of the SE London LMCs, under the auspices of Londonwide LMCs, have written to the SEL ICB to remind them of the requirements in relation to the new hospital contract and responsibilities to primary care. We intend that this will build on the interface work commissioned by SEL ICB Medical Director Toby Garrood. GPC England has produced guidance and a data protection impact assessment (DPIA) template for implementing Accelerated Access to GP-held records.
Yours faithfully,
Dr Penelope Jarrett
Chair
Lambeth LMC