New requirements for hospitals re work with general practice

Londonwide LMCs’ CEO Dr Michelle Drage has written to Trust and Foundation Trust CEOs across London asking how they plan to implement the new requirements outlined in the 2016/17 NHS Standard Contract, with particular regard to consideration of GP feedback and we will update you on their replies.

We have also produced a template letter to use if hospitals do not observe the new requirements in the way that they work with GPs and their practice teams. You can download it from our GPSOE site here.

The six new requirements were highlighted to CCG Accountable Officers, and Chief Executives of NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts in a letter dated 28 July sent from Matthew Swindells, National Director: Operations and Information at NHS England, and Robert Alexander, Deputy Chief Executive of NHS Improvement.

The letter says that time taken setting up and rearranging hospital appointments, as well as chasing up delays in discharge letters and details of changes in medication, accounts for 13.5 million, or 4.5% of GP appointments annually.

The new requirements, which aim to reduce these pressures on GPs, include:

Local access policies - covering discharge back to GPs for out-patient DNAs.
Discharge summaries - to be sent by direct electronic or email for inpatient, day case or A&E care within 24 hours.
Clinic letters - clear and prompt communication with GPs following outpatient clinic attendance.
Onward referral of patients - onward referral to and treatment by another professional within the same provider is permitted, and there is no need to refer back to the GP. Re-referral for GP approval is only required for onward referral of non-urgent, unrelated conditions.
Medication on discharge - Providers to supply patients with medication following discharge from inpatient or day case care.
Results and treatments - hospitals to notify patients of the results of clinical investigations and treatments in an appropriate and cost-effective manner, for example, telephoning the patient.

Last updated : 16 Aug 2016

Superfast broadband vouchers worth up to £3000 are available. (11 Sep 2015)

The government’s superfast broadband connection vouchers are still available to small and medium sized businesses in 22 super connected cities across the UK. London is one of the 22 super...

Don’t let your NMC registration lapse – important information for nurses and practice managers. (11 Sep 2015)

From November 2015 anyone who allows their registration to lapse will need to make an application for readmission to regain access to the registrar. This could take between two...

Updated Subject Access Requests (SARs) guidance from the BMA (11 Sep 2015)

The BMA has issued guidance Focus on’ guidance on Subject Access Requests (SARs) for insurance purposes. The guidance has been updated following the Information Commissioner’s Office input and includes...

Training and development events for GPs and practice staff (11 Sep 2015)

Reflective Practice Masterclass (10 October 2015, 13 November 2015 and 4 December 2015) – Each master class helps individuals to identify both the organisational and psychological barriers to change and...

Increased savings on magazine subscription packages with DLT Magazines (11 Sep 2015)

DLT are the UK’s leading supplier of magazine subscription packages to businesses. Offering permanent discounts of up to 70% off cover prices and a range of over 150 leading titles,...

Egg-free flu vaccine Optaflu now available (11 Sep 2015)

MASTA, one of the Buying Group’s approved flu vaccine suppliers for the 2015-16 season, is now carrying stocks of the egg-free flu vaccine Optaflu. This can be delivered out with...

Retired Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) indicators update (11 Sep 2015)

Following concerns highlighted by practices in relation to the request from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) to extract data related to retired QOF indicators, the BMA’s General...

Friends and Family Test - act now to avoid a breach notice (11 Sep 2015)

We are aware that there may be some confusion about the data required for the Friends and Family Test (FFT). NHS England data on the monthly returns show that many...

Warning for practices over PBX phone systems (11 Sep 2015)

There are reports that some businesses have recently been victims of PBX (Private Branch Exchanges) fraud where a hacker accessed their phone lines and made premium rate calls at a...