Online and video consultation data collection

A data provision notice (DPN) for a data collection on Online and Video Consultation in General Practices was issued to general practices in England on 10 January 2022. NHS England has directed NHS Digital to collect and analyse data in connection with online and video consultations in general practice. This data collection is to replace the summary collection that was implemented as part of the national response to Covid-19 and collected under a special covid arrangement under COPI.

Practices will need to legally comply with the DPN and provide permission for the extract via the Calculating Quality Reporting Service (CQRS). The legal basis is established in the DPN.

It is a “participation only” service, all practices need to do is give permission through CQRS to enable the extraction of data specified in the DPN and then the data will be provided directly to NHS Digital by the online consultation and video consultation suppliers on behalf of practices. The first data collection is due to be taken in February 2022 and then weekly ongoing. There is no end date specified in the DPN.

The Registered Manager at the practice should have received an email notification from NHS Digital for this DPN and also have received an email from the London Immunisation team asking them to give permission for this data extraction through CQRS.

Appendix A provides a link to the data specification where details of each data item to be extracted can be found. The National Data Opt-Out will not apply to the extraction of data and the information to be collected does not include patient identifiers such as name, address or NHS Number. The data will not be shared publicly but will be shared with practices, commissioners, and national NHS organisations to help understand the use of these systems and how they can be improved.

As required under section 258 of the 2012 Act, the Joint General Practitioners Committee (GPC) and Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) IT subcommittee (also referred to as the Joint GP IT Committee), which is part of the British Medical Association (BMA) were consulted with on this data collection.

The DPN states that the direction from NHSE is to formalise the collection beyond the national COVID-19 response and to:

Improve the collection of online consultation and video consultation activity in GP practices to provide a fuller picture of workload and activity.
Provide meaningful metrics to support implementation of online and video consultations.
Be used to inform incentive schemes including the Investment and Impact Fund (IIF). This is being issued by NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE/I) to all GP practices and Primary Care Networks (PCNs) as part of delivering high quality care to their populations as well as delivering objectives in the NHS Long Term Plan .
Enable informed and value-based commissioning of online and video consultation products.
Help General Practices focus on the delivery of good outcomes for patients, staff and the wider system.
Be used to monitor and drive product development to deliver the right outcomes for General Practice.
Help standardise reporting from online consultation system suppliers for consistency Direction Requirements Specification for OC/VC extended dataset v 1.1.
Be used to distribute implementation resources and share learning more effectively within a system based on outcomes.
Extract data items that would not otherwise be available from other national data collections or General Practice clinical systems.
Enable OC/VC data to be combined with General Practice Appointment Data (GPAD) for use in the GPAD publication. The data used will be a count of clinical OC/VC appointments to combine with similar non-OC/VC appointments at the General Practice level found in GPAD to allow a more holistic view of appointment activity.

Last updated : 19 Jan 2022

GP volunteers needed for Grenfell Tower residents (22 Jun 2017)

Over the last few days we have seen a fantastic response to the Grenfell Tower fire from London GPs and practice teams, working in very difficult circumstances both practically and...

Londonwide LMCs' June 2017 newsletter (21 Jun 2017)

...

May 2017 workforce survey – thank you for responding (20 Jun 2017)

Our latest workforce survey closed on Tuesday 20 June, we received over 750 responses, representing over 550 practices. Thank you to those who took the time to provide us with...

HR in general practice: recruitment and selection (16 Jun 2017)

Londonwide LMCs recently ran a recruitment and selection workshop for GPs and practice management colleagues. The day was full of lively discussion as delegates considered all aspects of the recruitment...

Guest blog: Engaged patients boost your practice (16 Jun 2017)

This week (w/c 19 June) is patient participation awareness week. East London GP and LMC member Dr Naomi Beer tells us about the benefits of patient engagement and how it...

General election 2017 – Summary of London results (15 Jun 2017)

Election night ended with a hung parliament and in London those boroughs represented by Londonwide LMCs saw Labour gain three seats from the Conservatives, Kensington, Battersea and Enfield Southgate. The...

Fire at Grenfell Tower - assisting with relief work (15 Jun 2017)

Following on from the tragic events in Kensington yesterday morning, Londonwide LMCs is here to support you and your practice staff at this difficult time. Please remember look out for...

CQC plans changes to inspection regime (15 Jun 2017)

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has launched a consultation on proposals to change the general practice inspection regime to include practices providing annual written evidence on how they intend...

Obituary: Dr Chris Jowett 19 August 1952 – 27 May 2017 (14 Jun 2017)

Last month we lost Dr Chris Jowett, the treasurer of our board, former vice-chair of Hillingdon LMC and a prolific advocate for London general practice for over three decades. This...