Londonwide LMCs' February 2018 newsletter

Influenza and the annual vaccine ordering challenge for practices

Kenny Gibson, Head of Public Health Commissioning (London) and NHS England London's lead on flu vaccinations, shares his tips for anticipating the cycle of winter illnesses and getting the best value when buying in vaccine stock.

Prescription charges to rise 20p to £8.80

The Government has announced that the single prescription charge for 2018/19 will be £8.80, effective from 1 April 2018. Three and 12 month prescription prepayment certificates (PPCs) remain unchanged.

Primary care barometer

Our partners at Rand are still looking for practice managers who are willing to join an innovative stress and workload study.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance checklist

The Information Governance Alliance (IGA) has released further guidance including an implementation checklist to help practices achieve compliance with the GDPR requirements which come into force in May.

Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) rejects merger of Community Health Partnerships (CHP) and NHS Property Services (NHSPS)

The DHSC has rejected the Naylor Review's suggestion that CHP and NHSPS be merged, along with other recommendations around the use of receipts from sales of hospital trusts' land.

Media and public affairs round-up

On 25 January our CEO, Dr Michelle Drage, spoke at the London Clinical Senate, supporting the retention of the independent contractor status as general practice moves to at-scale models. Over the last month the Londonwide LMCs’ communications team provided media advice to practices who had CQC press releases written about them following inspections.

We continue to be very active in promoting the interests of London GPs and practice staff on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. We also support practices that are approached with media requests. You can find details of how to get support here.

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