Changes to Group 1 & 2 Driving Licensing Standards for Vision
The DVLA driver licensing standards for vision have now changed. In summary:

Group 1 (cars and motorcycles): applicants and licence holders will need to have a visual acuity of 6/12 (0.5 decimal) as well as being able to read the number plate from the prescribed distance.

Visual field: the present standard of a total field width of 120 degrees remains but in addition, there will need to be a field of at least 50 degrees on each side.

Group 2 (buses and lorries): applicants and licence holders must have a visual acuity, using corrective lenses if necessary, of at least 6/7.5 (0.8 decimal) in the better eye and at least 6/12 (0.5 decimal) in the other eye. If corrective lenses are worn, an uncorrected acuity in each eye of at least 3/60 (0.05 decimal) is needed. All Group 2 drivers must also meet all the Group 1 visual acuity standards as outlined above. Where glasses are worn to meet the minimum standard for driving, they should have a corrective power of no more than plus eight (+8) dioptres.

The full standards are available on the DVLA website.

Diabetes UK also has information about the recent changes.

RCN Indemnity Guidance
The GPC has updated this guidance following MPS clarification on its advice to its members.

Updated Focus on Vaccines & Immunisations
The Focus on Vaccines and Immunisations guidance, which was originally published in 2004, has now been updated following the publication of the amendments to the Additional Services section of the NHS Regulations 2004 (Annex BA of the Statement of Financial Entitlements) on 30 April 2012.

In 2004, everything in the Red Book was transferred unchanged and carried into the new GMS contract as an additional service. These regulations became out of date because of changes in the vaccines themselves and continued to contain inappropriate references, such as smallpox. This did not prevent their being carried over into the new contract. The amendments to the SFE now reflect current practice and attempts to clarify the previous regulations to make them fully up to date, and are not intended to introduce any new work.

ePACT Data for Quality and Productivity Prescribing Indicator Achievement
ePACT data to measure achievement was made available on 17 May 2012 and PCTs have been advised to use the ready reckoner (or formula on page 166 of the 2011/12 QOF guidance) to calculate the points achieved for each of their practices. Due to the additional time required by PCTs to calculate achievement for a number of practices, practices should not delay signing off QMAS (approving and declaring achievement), as a PCT could withhold an achievement payment if QMAS has not been signed off. Early sign off will enable PCTs to complete pre-verification checks before payment is due. In particular practices do not have to wait until they receive their QP3 – QP5 results to sign off QMAS, as signing off QMAS does not prevent a practice from appealing their QP3 – QP5 results or raising a dispute.

Step by step process:

• Practice signs off QOF achievement (approves and declares achievement) for QOF 2011/12 on QMAS minus the QP3,4 and 5 results which only PCTs can input. This enables PCTs to carry out pre-payment verification checks.

• In order to make sure that QOF payments are made by end June, PCTs may need to generate advance payments for QOF achievement on Exeter (not through QMAS) based on rest of QOF achievement plus an estimate of the QP3, 4 and 5.

• PCTs await the ePACT results, calculate the actual prescribing achievement using the ready reckoner and input final results in QMAS.

• QMAS calculates the final achievement payment and this generates the correct payment through QMAS. If the PCTs made an advance payment on Exeter, they need to recover the amount through an equivalent negative ad-hoc variance.

 

Changes to Community Pharmacy Medicines Use Review Scheme
From 1 July 2012 changes will be made to the community pharmacy Medicines Use Review (MUR) service. The main changes that will affect GPs are the introduction of a feedback form which will be used by pharmacists to inform GPs of any issues that arise during the MUR consultation and the removal of the requirement for pharmacists to inform GPs that an MUR has taken place when no recommendation has been made by the pharmacist to the GP. These new requirements are subject to a change of directions in due course.

Seasonal Flu Arrangements
The CMO wrote to practices on 3 May about the seasonal flu arrangements. Annex B (the GP check list) on page 9 says:

Robust call and recall arrangements

1. Patients recommended to receive the flu vaccine will be sent a letter, inviting them to a flu vaccination clinic or to make an appointment.

The GPC was concerned that the checklist does not reflect the requirements of the DES, and that it is up to practices to decide how they advertise to and follow up patients. We brought this issue up in a recent helpful meeting with the CMO, who noted that it was less specific in the DES. Our advice remains that the DES is followed and that the important point is that robust systems should be used to notify patients, although there may be local variations. It is up to the practice, not the PCT, to decide what these are.

LMC Conference Motions
These LMC Annual Conference Motions have now been published.

GP Trainee Elections
Nominations are now open for regional representatives on the GPC GP Trainees Subcommittee. Elections are being held for each of the 19 regional constituencies – nominations are open to all those on, or about the begin, a GP training programme – whether they are BMA members or not. Full details, including nominations forms, are available on the BMA website here. All nominations must be received by the GPC office by 5pm on Friday 22 June 2012.