Seasonal Flu Vaccine

You should have received this letter from the acting CMO about influenza vaccination and also have seen a message from GPC Chairman Laurence Buckman with regard to flu vaccination with the following key points:

1. The vaccination priority remains the under 65s at risk, those who are pregnant, and others at risk. The under 5s who are otherwise healthy should not be vaccinated. Those not at risk are not entitled to get the flu vaccination on the NHS.
2. Please let your PCT know if you have spare stock of flu vaccines so they can offer it to others.
3. The Department of Health is trying to obtain more vaccine.
4. You may use Pandemrix (the monovalent pandemic flu vaccine), which you can obtain locally. PCTs can order more and get it sent to practices directly, using last year’s arrangements. GPs registered to order directly can do so. You can use this for any at risk patient.

   The GPC urge every GP to offer whatever vaccine they have to those at risk and to let their LMC know if they are having problems obtaining supplies.

Offering Flu Vaccination Privately

The LMC have received a number of questions with regard to private vaccination – please note that you cannot charge for providing the flu vaccine to your own patients. You can direct your patients to other practices who are able to provide the vaccination or to pharmacies but you must not set up what may be seen as a ‘cartel’ and should advise the patients that they can ‘shop around’ and the vaccination is available from other sources.

Tees PCT Contact re Flu

The ‘flu contact’ for Tees PCTs is Dr Toks Sangowawa available on 01642 352 342. If you have any questions with regard to flu and/or obtaining vaccine or if you believe you may have vaccine beyond your needs (you will not use it all!) please contact Toks in the first instance or the LMC (01642 737 744). Please note that there are ‘technical problems’ around sharing vaccines with other practices and you must always contact the PCT or discuss with the LMC.

Code of Practice on the Prevention and Control of Infections, Health & Social Care Act 2008

The Department of Health have published The Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance, the final impact assessment for this document and their response to the consultation on a draft of the Code are available here.

The Code of Practice sets out the criteria against which a registered provider’s compliance with the requirements relating to cleanliness and infection control will be assessed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). When registering with CQC in October 2011 practices will need to declare that they comply with the criteria and after 1st April 2012 demonstrate that they are doing so when they are reviewed by CQC. To comply with the outcome practices should follow the guidance on how they can interpret and meet the registration requirements found in Appendix D of the Code of Practice document. The relevant CQC standard is ‘Outcome 8: Cleanliness and Infection Control’ and this related guidance from the Care Quality Commission entitled ‘Guidance about compliance: Essential Standards of Quality and Safety’  The GPC will be producing guidance on how to comply with the CQC standards in spring 2011.

RCGP’s Practice Accreditation Programme

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) launched early registration of its Practice Accreditation (PA) Award in December 2010 ahead of formal launch in April 2011. The programme is part of the wider provision of RCGP quality schemes where GPs and practice teams are supported to improve the quality of care and the standard of services they provide to patients. The Standards have been developed in partnership with the National Primary Care Research and Development Centre (NPCRDC) at the University of Manchester. They reflect key aspects of primary care, particularly the organisational systems and processes that ensure delivery of safe and quality care; facilitate ongoing team development; and recognise the contribution to quality improvement that can be made by the whole practice team.

The Award is a two-stage process that will run within an overall three-year timeframe, and is comprised of 79 standards across six domains. Each domain includes a balance of Stage 1 and Stage 2 standards. Stage 1 is a pass-fail assessment of 42 standards, and practices will be required to complete this within 12 months of registering. Stage 2 consists of 37 standards that encourage ongoing development within practice teams. Practices will have up to 24 months to complete Stage 2.

Practices working towards PA will submit an e-portfolio of supporting information to demonstrate that their systems and processes meet the Standards. Supporting information will be assessed online and will be followed by a practice visit. More information on the award and registration for the programme, available here or contact RCGP via email at: practiceaccreditation@rcgp.org.uk

Partnership Agreements

We strongly recommend that GPs in partnership enter into a written partnership agreement and seek legal and accountancy advice in so doing. Partnership agreements reduce both financial and non-financial risk and provide a detailed framework on which the ongoing management and administration of the partnership can be based. Because of the special nature of medical partnerships and the inter-reaction with NHS contracts and the Performers List, it is important that any legal and accounting advice has a full and deep understanding of these issues.

The BMA offers a partnership agreement drafting service exclusively for general practitioners. The service is provided by Neal Hooper, a BMA lawyer, offering high-quality legal advice and drafting, and can be accessed by calling 020 7383 6128 or emailing info.pds@bma.org.uk To take advantage of the service at least one of the partners in your practice must be a BMA member. BMA members are entitled to the service at a competitive price of £1,500 plus VAT. Members can also take advantage of a fee of just £25 per annum plus VAT for the BMA to hold and store a final signed version of their agreement on behalf of their practice.

Other legal firms are available to provide this service but please ensure they have the required NHS knowledge, and always obtain a quote beforehand.