Bulletin 01.07.2013
CQRS
CQRS has gone live and is now being rolled out across England. The service will support QOF, Learning Disabilities Health Check Scheme, Rotavirus (Routine Childhood Immunisation) and Alcohol Risk Reduction Scheme from go live with other services supported later in the year. NHS England Area Teams have identified and set up where possible, a CQRS User Administrator within each GP practices to CQRS. To ensure users understand how the service will work and what they need to do to declare/approve achievement activities CQRS have developed the following implementation guidance for GP Practices and Area Teams. For further information on CQRS rollout, view the latest newsletter. For any concerns or queries related to CQRS, including training, practices should email: cqrsfeedback@hscic.gov.uk.
Business Rules for Enhanced Services
The business rules for the alcohol, learning disabilities and rotavirus enhanced services are now available to download via the PCC website.
Change in QOF Business Rules for MH002 (mental health care plan)
The HSCIC has provided this explanation about changed business rules for QOF indicator MH002.
Updated v25.0 of QOF Business Rules
The HSCIC has made some changes to v25 of the QOF Business Rules to the following rulesets:
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cardiovascular disease primary prevention
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hypertension
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rheumatoid arthritis
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secondary prevention of coronary heart disease.
These four documents have now been updated to v25.1 and have been added to the PCC website to replace their v25.0 versions.
Vaccinations and Immunisations Update inc. flu, shingles and MMR
Recently, a number of changes have also been made to the vaccination programmes. This summary includes information on flu, shingles and MMR as well as useful links to the BMA website for more detail.
AQP Information Governance Toolkit Assessments
The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) confirmed this week that the requirement for an AQP IG Toolkit assessment is placed on the legal entity that has access to NHS patient information. Therefore:
- If the legal entity offering AQP services is the GP practice then the current published assessment will suffice. A top-up assessment may also be necessary, but this will depend on the AQP service to be provided.
- If a new legal entity has been created to deliver AQP work, e.g. limited liability companies or partnerships, then a separate AQP assessment is needed.
CQC Consultation
The CQC has published a consultation on changes to the way it regulates, inspects and monitors care and it is available on the CQC website. Some parts of the consultation relate to hospital inspection only, but there are sections that will have an important impact on the regulation of primary medical services.
In particular, Section 2 of the consultation applies to all providers that the CQC regulates and sets out the following:
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The five questions they will be asking of every service they regulate: Is it safe, is it effective, is it caring, is it responsive to people’s needs and is it well-led?
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Three concepts to help the CQC judge the quality and safety of services: the “fundamentals of care”, which are the basics of care below which standards of care should not fall, “expected standards of care”, based on the five questions they will be asking of every service and “high quality care”, which is intended to help the CQC make judgements about a provider’s overall quality of care.
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Their proposals to appoint expert inspection teams, led by expert Chief Inspectors.
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A proposal to develop a ratings system for most providers of health and social care, including in primary medical services. The consultation does not provide details of how this will work in general practice; these will be developed in the next two years, led by their Chief Inspector of General Practice.
Section 4 of the consultation also applies to all providers registered with the CQC. It sets out proposals for changes to the CQC’s regulations to introduce fundamentals of care, to introduce of a statutory duty of candour as one of the organisational requirements on all registered providers, and to strengthen the CQC’s powers in holding providers to account. The Department of Health will publish draft regulations following the closing of the consultation. We encourage you to read and respond to the consultation, which closes on 12th August 2013.
GP Subcommittee Regional Elections 13-15
The GP Trainees subcommittee are holding elections for 14 of its regional constituencies (including the north east) this summer. Nominations are open now until 5pm, Friday 19 July 2013. Nomination forms and further information about the elections are available here. Posts are held for two years, unless the representative qualifies as a GP during the first year, in which case they will only serve for one year.
Anyone can stand who is either:
a) on a GP training programme that will not finish before 24 September 2013;
b) starting a training programme between 28 June 2013 and 29 June 2014.
Candidates do not have to be BMA members. Please spread the word to any GP trainees you know who may be interested. If you have any queries, please contact Karly Jose (kjose@bma.org.uk) or Christopher Scott (cscott@bma.org.uk).
Crisis Support for Victims of Domestic Abuse
Many victims of domestic abuse come in contact with their GP long before seeking help elsewhere – on average, female victims of domestic abuse are subjected to 37 beatings before they involve the police. In addition to the healthcare needs these victims may have, they commonly need help in getting immediate protection from their abuser. A non-molestation order, granted by a civil court, can provide this protection by preventing the abuser from using or threatening violence against the victim, or intimidating, harassing or pestering them.
While it is possible for victims to apply for this injunction themselves, they are often unsure how to do so, and are commonly put off from seeking legal support because of the cost of seeking advice. The National Centre for Domestic Violence (NCDV) provides a free, fast emergency injunction service to victims of domestic abuse, regardless of their financial circumstances, race, gender or sexual orientation. They help anyone apply for an injunction within 24 hours of first contact (in most circumstances), and work closely with the police, local firms of solicitors and other support agencies to help obtain protection.
To help victims get this support, the NCDV provide a range of materials (posters, cards or other literature) about this service, which can be distributed directly to a patient, or in waiting areas. More about the NCDV, and how to order any materials can be found at www.ncdv.org.uk.