March 2023

  • Published On 21st March 2023

BEST Events – Held @ Shaw Lane Sports Club, Barnsley

 

For further information the BEST Portal Website can be accessed at http://best.barnsleyccg.nhs.uk/

 

Medicines Management

Shared care and Amber-G guidelines can be found at the following link: http://best.barnsleyccg.nhs.uk/clinical-support/medicines/shared-care-guidelines/  An overview of Shared Care guidelines, including the Principles of Shared Care is available to read here.

Prescribers (including secondary care clinicians) are encouraged to report any problems they experience with shared care or other medicines related issue, particularly where guidelines are not being complied with, to the following email address: BarnsleyAPCReport@nhs.net.

With secondary care opening up activity and undertaking remote consultations, it has been reported that there has been increased pressure in primary care to undertake things they wouldn’t normally.  Due to this, the APC reporting has been temporarily expanded to capture any issues and these can be fed into the APC.  The hospitals need this information so that issues can be addressed.

Practices can now report any interface issues they have, as much as possible, via Barnsley LMC, which will then be submitted to the hospitals.

A list of Prescribing Guidelines is available to view here.

The Barnsley Area Joint Formulary is available to view here.

Medicines Management monthly Newsletters are available to view here.

 

Workload Shift

Barnsley LMC would like to remind all practices it is important that we receive examples of any workload shift.  Please provide examples of workload shift to barnsley.lmc@nhs.net in order that these can be taken to the meeting with Secondary Care.

 

Barnsley Glass Works

 

The Glass Works in Barnsley is to receive a further £4.6m investment to expand services. This is great news as the facility has been a bit of a revelation. There will be an extra eight test, check and scan services. Work has already begun to prepare the centre for expansion and like Mexborough this is expected to be complete later this year. It will include CT and MRI scans, aneurysm screening, urine testing, retinal eye screening, EEG scans and specialist lung condition tests, in addition to the breast screening, bone density scans and x-rays.

 

Vocational Training Scheme for New General Practice Nurses

The South Yorkshire Primary Care Workforce and Training Hub have recently recruited for the Vocational Training Scheme (VTS) for general practice nurse training. The Training Hub would like to hear from practices who are interested in hosting a qualified VTS nurse for a 6 month placement (2023/24). The first placement will start in May 2023. The VTS programme covers the foundation skills required to work as a general practice nurse. The host practice will provide a placement where the nurse will be supported to consolidate their skills. The training hub will provide all the external training sessions as part of the agreement and the host practice will be supported to offer growth and protected time for learning and consolidation towards clinical and professional development. This is an exciting workforce development opportunity that ensures the provision of a pipeline of trained general practice nurses for the South Yorkshire region. For more information click here or to submit and expression of interest, click here.

 

Improving Capacity of Discharge to Assess

The Discharge to Assess (D2A) service in Barnsley provides same-day Occupational Therapy assessments to patients in their own home on their day of discharge, allowing them to safely return home from hospital. The service offers two-hour assessments slots, with 16 available per day Monday to Friday between 8am and 6pm, and eight available per day on the weekends between 10am and 6pm. These slots are distributed throughout the day at allocated times. The team found that on average four patients per day were unable to be discharged from hospital due to there being no slots available. They therefore looked at how the slots were being allocated and the percentage being used. They discovered that slots between 11am and 12pm were often not being filled and there was more demand for slots in the afternoon. They therefore changed the slot allocation and timing of the slots to be able to offer more appointments between 2pm and 4pm, without having to increase staffing or reduce the number of assessments offered. This has halved the number of patients having to stay in hospital an additional night to await their D2A assessment. The team are continuing to look at other ways they can improve the service to ensure same-day discharge for all patients requiring D2A assessments, whilst also looking at alternative pathways for complex patients whose needs do not fit within the normal D2A 1b pathway.

 

NHS Launches Ad Campaign As Just One In Five Would Visit High-street Pharmacy For Minor Illnesses

 

The NHS has launched a new campaign to highlight how high-street pharmacies can support patients with non-urgent health advice for minor conditions including coughs, aches and colds. Read more here.

 

Practices are reminded that medical certificates to establish unfitness for jury duty must be issued free of charge to a patient that requires one. For the full list of prescribed medical certificates issued free of charge, please see relevant GMS and PMS Regulations and APMS Directions.

 

Clinical Leadership in Virtual Wards

 

This guidance supports integrated care system clinical leadership to create and develop their virtual ward service.

More…..

 

Making GP practices deaf-friendly

Working with deaf people and people affected by hearing loss, Healthwatch Norfolk created a step-by-step guide on how GP practices can improve communication and make care accessible.

More….

 

 

Personalised Annual leave Scheme

 

The personalised annual leave scheme outlined in the new ICB Annual Leave Policy is now open. The scheme allows staff to apply to buy up to 2 working weeks’ additional annual leave to increase their total leave allowance for 2023/24 or to sell up to 1 working week’s leave from their 2023/24 entitlement.

All requests must be made in writing using the e-form on the intranet and should be submitted by 24th March 2023.

Please see the FAQ document if you have any queries or contact the HR team at syicb-sheffield.humanresources@nhs.net.

Personalised-Annual-Leave-FAQs

 

Must-know for staff – Annual Leave changes and carry over

 

From 1 April 2023, most staff will only be able to request annual leave via ESR. The annual leave cards will not be used from 1 April 2023 for most staff.

In preparation for this, please review the video tutorial attached below details how to do this. Please also check your continuous service dates are correct via ESR self-service. The guide below will detail how to request annual leave in ESR step-by-step.

If you have any queries, please do one or more of the following:

  • Drop on to one of the online tutorial sessions with the HR team (dates listed below)
  • Refer to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) guide below

Managing-annual-leave-via-ESR-FAQs-updated-Jan-2023

 

  • Raise a query with one of the members of the HR team below:

For HR policy or entitlement queries Ellie Roach – ellie.roach@nhs.net
Faye Buffey – faye.buffey@nhs.net

For ESR/technical queries Jo Szarelis – jo.szarelis@nhs.net

Video Tutorial Link- How do I request or delete annual leave?  – https://my.esr.nhs.uk/dashboard/lrst/ESS22v8.0/index.html

Checking Continuous service dates guide:

Annual-leave-user-guide–updated-Jan-2023

 

Sickness Absence Recording

From 1 April 2023, most line managers will be expected to record sickness absence within ESR. The HR team will not be responsible for inputting sickness absence entries from 1 April 2023.

In preparation for this, please review the video tutorial attached below details how to do this. The guide below will also detail how to do this step-by-step.

If you have any queries, please do one or more of the following:

  • Drop on to one of the online tutorial sessions with the HR team (dates listed below)
  • Raise a query with one of the members of the HR team below:

For HR policy or entitlement queries Ellie Roach – ellie.roach@nhs.net Faye Buffey – faye.buffey@nhs.net

For ESR/technical queries Jo Szarelis – jo.szarelis@nhs.net

 

Annual Leave Carry Over

As we approach the end of the 2022/23 annual leave year, all staff are encouraged to book and take any outstanding annual leave to support your mental and physical health.

In the first instance annual leave should be taken before 31 March 2023, however where this is not possible due to exceptional circumstances staff can apply to carry over up to one working week with their line manager’s approval using the new e-form available on the intranet. Any staff wishing to carry over more than one working week’s leave should also complete the form. These requests will be sent to Executive Directors for approval.

Annual-leave-user-guide–updated-Jan-2023–1-

 

All requests should be submitted by 24 March 2023 at the latest. The HR team will update ESR records to reflect any carry over by the end of April. Please contact syicb-sheffield.humanresources@nhs.net for support with any queries or syicb-sheffield.learninganddevelopment@nhs.net for any ESR-related issues.

 

LMC Buying Group                                                                                                                                              

Barnsley LMC has been a member of the LMC Buying Groups Federation since 2013. This means that practices can access the discounts the Buying Group has negotiated on a wide range of products and services.  If you’re not sure what the Buying Group is all about then this short video explains what they do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FekMwFI5ILg.

 

By registering with the Buying Group:  www.lmcbuyinggroups.co.uk/members/, you can view all the suppliers’ pricing, contact details and request quotes. The Buying Group also offers any member practice a free cost analysis which demonstrates how much money your practice could save just by swapping to buying group suppliers.  Tel: 0115 979 6910  Email: info@lmcbuyinggroups.co.uk   Website: www.lmcbuyinggroups.co.uk