News

Kent LMC's open letter regarding NHSE's Access to GP letter

Covid-19 recovery principles for General Practice

As services resume from Covid-19 GP practices are facing unprecedented pressure from unmet patient needs and ongoing disruption in services in other parts of the NHS. This is on the background of...

Kent LMC statement of support for BAME colleagues and communities

PCN DES Kent LMC View - 4th May 2020

HSJ: GP Group Brands Local PPE Shortage 'Shambolic Situation'

https://www.hsj.co.uk/gp-group-brands-local-ppe-shortage-shambolic-situation/7027436.article

Kent LMC Open letter regarding provision of Personal Protective Equipment (17 March 2020)

Kent Local Medical Committee has today sent a letter to Members of Parliament regarding provision of Personal Protective Equipment. A copy of the letter can be viewed below.

BMA Guidance Coronavirus (Covid 19) Updated 19 March 2020

Press Statement

The motion below has been debated at the Local Medical Committee England Conference on 22nd November 2019 and has been passed: That conference believes that GPs no longer have the capacity to...

Data Protection Officer (DPO) Support for Practices

As you may be aware, one of the agreements in this year’s GP Contract changes was that CCGs were to provide the DPO function to practices from April 2019. Kent and Medway have now started to...

Proposal to merge to a single CCG across Kent and Medway September 2019

FREE!! Children and Young People Suicide Awareness and Prevention Workshops

Join our campaign to entice more GPs back to general practice

Dear Colleague, A new campaign aimed at enticing more GPs to return to general practice was launched today. Jointly run by NHS England and Health Education England, the campaign is designed to...

BMA Guidance: EU Exit operational readiness

The Government have published ‘ EU Exit operational readiness guidance ’ for the health and care system in England which identifies actions that all NHS providers, including GP practices, and...

New CQC Provider Information Collection and Annual Regulatory Review

The CQC 2016 to 2021 strategy sets out their vision: a more targeted, responsive and collaborative approach to regulation so more people get high-quality care. The attached letter from Professor...

Reformed GP Contract 2019/20: Dr Richard Vautrey, GPC Chair

GPC England has negotiated a deal spanning the next five years. Elements will be introduced throughout the five years – 2019 will focus on building the foundations, creating Networks and starting...

GP Partnership Review - January 2019

Following the publication of the GP Partnership Review Interim report in October 2018 , this document is the final report of an independent review into the partnership model of general practice,...

Sharps - Action for GP Surgeries

We ask that you cease accepting sharps of any kind from patients with immediate effect and refer the patient to their Local Authority to meet statutory obligations. This will ultimately mean NHS...

NHS Long Term Plan - January 2019

The NHS Long Term Plan was published on 7th January 2019. The LMC Office have attached a summary of what this may mean for practices. Click HERE to read the full document.

Doctors and Dentists Pay Review Body Recommendation: Letter to Kent & Medway MPs November 2018

GP 2019/20 Pension annual allowance tax solution

https://www.england.nhs.uk/pensions/​

Criteria Change for NHS England Clinical Pharmacists in General Practice Programme Oct 18

Please see the attached letter from Ian Biggs, Director of Primary Care Workforce & Infrastructure Programmes, NHS England regarding the criteria change for NHS England Clinical Pharmacists in...

Guidance and FAQs from national flu team on planning flu clinics

SENT ON BEHALF OF DAWN HOLLIS TO PRACTICE MANAGERS, IMMS LEADS, CCGs, LMCs Dear Colleagues, Please see message below from the national flu team, along with attached documents. The information...

Congratulations to Dr Gaurav Gupta!

We would like to congratulate Dr Gaurav Gupta, LMC Chair, on being re-elected to the GPC at the BMA Annual Representative Meeting last week. As a GPC representative, Dr Gupta will continue to...

Important Update: Re-Registering with Invicta Health Learning

Dr Gupta, Chair of Kent LMC, speaks to KMFM regarding implementation of e-RS in Kent and Medway

Dr Gupta speaks to KMFM about how he is working with health bosses towards the safe implementation of electronic referrals in Kent and Medway.

Kent LMC Sessional/VTS Conference Presentations: May 2019

Kent & Medway Medical School (KMMS) Update, Professor Chris Holland, Foundation Dean, KMMS Indemnity Update, Keira Moulds, Head of Primary Care (Quality & Regulation), Operations and Information...

GPC response to the review of PCSE by the NAO

The GPC has issues a response to the National Audit Office report, NHS England’s management of the primary care support services contract with Capita . The letter asks NHS England to implement...

Non Prescription Medication for Care Homes

Following a query from an LMC that some practices are reporting that they are receiving increasingly detailed requests from care homes about ‘homely remedies’, requesting a GP to sign a form for...

BMA Guidance: Reflective Practice May 2018

Updated guidance on reflection Following the Hadiza Bawa-Garba case many doctors feel they are no longer able to reflect honestly and openly. The UK local medical committee conference earlier...

Electronic Referral Service (eRS) April 2018

Please find attached a letter sent on behalf of the Kent LMC to Kent & Medway Hospital Trusts and CCGs regarding the Electronic Referral Service.

Medical School Success - Press Release 23rd March 2018

Press Release The agreement to fund a Medical School based in Canterbury is a game changer for the provision of medical services in Kent and Medway. The effect will not only be that there will be...

GDPR BMA resources

Paul Cundy from the BMA has put a lot of work into producing Blogs for Practices and templates, but has had difficulty getting them onto the BMA website. So he has sent us an email which...

Measles in Kent - Public Health Advice (March 2018)

Strategic commissioner update – 28 February 2018

Dear colleagues A short update on the strategic commissioner proposal following the NHS South Kent Coast CCG meeting last week. The GP membership met on 22 February to discuss development of the...

Kent and Medway Strategic Commissioner Update February 2018

The Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) across Kent and Medway are looking at options for developing a strategic commissioner function that works across multiple CCGs. The aim is to strengthen...

Update from PCSE Including GP Pensions Information

Please find attached the latest PCSE update which contains valuable end of year GP pensions information.

CORRECTION: New guidance on assessing the financial viability of providers

Dear Providers CORRECTION: New CQC guidance on assessing the financial viability of providers In our January bulletin, we updated you on how we will assess the financial viability of providers....

BMA response to High Court ruling for Dr Bawa-Garba

Speaking about the implications of the Dr Bawa-Garba ruling from the High Court in London, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA Council Chair, said: "The case involving Dr Bawa-Garba is a tragic one and it is...

Winter Pressures - January 2018

How can GPs avoid the new tax charges on their pension?

The amount GPs are allowed to save into their pension each year before incurring a tax charge is being reduced. Any active NHS pension scheme member earning over £110,000 may be affected. Please...

Doctors Lobby for Rise in NHS Funding: Channel 4 News - 21st November 2017

Victoria Macdonald, Health and Social Care Correspondent, interviews Dr Julian Spinks, GP and Kent Local Medical Committee Vice-Chair on the current pressures in the NHS.

Introduction of the Infanrix Hexa vaccination - November 2017

Dear Colleagues CQRS have confirmed that as indicator HEP003 is now paid within the Global sum of Childhood Immunisation Target payments, this indicator is no longer a payment mechanism on their...

BMA: Saving General Practice

The GPC’s new campaign, Saving General Practice, sets out to remind local and national policy makers of the challenges that general practice is faced with, and the action that needs to be taken to...

Extension of NHS Seasonal Influenza Vaccination to include Social Care Workers Update 20th November 2017

Please see attached letter from NHS England following the announcement that in the 2017/18 flu season it will support the delivery of flu immunisation for social care workers that offer direct...

NHS Coding System (April 2018): SNOMED CT

Please find attached a letter from the Co-Chairs of the BMA / RCGP Joint GP IT Committee regarding the move to SNOMED CT from Read and CTV3 codes that will take place in April next year. The...

PCSE GP Bulletin November 2017

In this bulletin, you will find updates on: Christmas and New Year: CitySprint and contact centre arrangements IMPORTANT – new contact details for ALL GP Payments and Pensions requests and...

Folkestone GP Crisis: Interview with Dr Gaurav Gupta, Sunday Politics South East, 15th October 2017

Folkestone GP Crisis, Sunday Politics South East, 15.10.17 from Liz Mears on Vimeo.

CQRS FAQs for Section 7A Public Health Enhanced Services

Please find attached the FAQ document NHSE have put together based on queries received from practices. This is edited twice a year and a revised version is due in December 2017.

Kent LMC Annual Conference 2017 - Working at Scale

Please click on the links below to access the presentations from the Kent LMC Annual Conference, held on 11th October 2017: GP Forward View—Where we are now? Dr Robert Varnam, NHS England, Head...

Guidance Regarding the new GMS1 Form

New GMS1 Form instructions for use from 1st October By now your practice should have received an initial supply of the new GMS1 form to be used from 1st October. If an overseas patient chooses to...

BMA guidance re outstanding PCSE issues August 2017

Guidance is available online, please follow this link https://www.bma.org.uk/collective-voice/committees/general-practitioners-committee/gpc-current-issues/capita-service-failure

Hepatitis B Vaccine Supplies

Please find attached a letter from PHE to local GPs, concerning arrangements for patients (excluding neonates) who need Hepatitis B vaccinations

BMA update on NHSPS negotiations (July 2018)

The BMA continue to work on the ongoing issues with NHS Property Services (NHSPS) and Community Health Partnerships (CHP), and would like to remind LMCs and practices about their guidance on this...

LMC Response to NHS England's Wasteful Drug Use Action Plan

We would like to highlight to prescribing clinicians in the practice that GPs have a contractual obligation to prescribe medication on an FP10 that the GP feels is clinically necessary whether the...

Expansion of Clinical Pharmacist in General Practice to benefit more Kent patients July 2017

NHS England has announced that more patients in east Kent, north Kent and west Kent will benefit from having pharmacists working in local GP surgeries, as part of a further roll out of our...

The Role of the LMC (July 2017)

With thanks to Wessex LMC for their permission to reproduce this document. As we are all aware the NHS is facing some of the most significant challenges it has seen since its inception in the...

Latest guidance for NHS on protecting against cyber attack

Dear LMCs, NHS England have sent through the below guidance following the cyber-attack: https://www.digital.nhs.uk/article/1495/Latest-guidance-for-NHS-on-protecting-against-cyber-attack Please...

Press Release: GP services in Kent and Medway under pressure

Following the release of our recent survey results to the press, please see below a link to the article published in Kent Online 'GP Services in Kent and Medway under pressure', where you can also...

Changes to the 2017-2019 Hospital Contract - April 2017

Please find attached a letter from Chaand Nagpaul about the changes to the 2017-19 hospital contract which are designed to further reduce inappropriate workload on GP practices, and also improve...

QOF / GPES and enhanced service payments - March 2017

We received the following communication from the BMA on the 24th March 2017 regarding QOF/GPES and Enhanced Service Payments: Dear LMCs, We are writing to make you are aware of the timings of...

LMC policy on the Multi-specialty Community Provider Contract

Please follow the link below to see Kent Local Medical Committee's policy on the draft MCP contract.

Prescription of prophylactic Tamiflu to the residents of nursing homes

Kent LMC are aware that some practices in Kent and Medway have been approached by Public Health England to prescribe prophylactic Tamiflu to the residents of nursing homes. Of course it is up to...

Publication of Voluntary MCP Contract

NHS England has now published and is consulting on a draft version of the voluntary Multi-specialty Community Provider (MCP) model contract. We encourage you to take up the opportunity to...

GPs Seek Support for Collaborative Working (December 2016)

Adequate support must be given to GP practices seeking to work collaboratively, the BMA has warned – following the latest findings of the GP...

GMC laments loss of 'reflective' general practice (December 2016)

This report is the culmination of 18 months of events and conversations with the medical profession, from GPs, consultants and trainees who work on the ground, to royal colleges, training...

A mini-guide to the General Practitioner Defence Fund

The GPDF has issued the following brief introductory guide to its role and work.

Advice for GPs on Military Veterans attending with concerns on use of Mefloquine

Dear all, Please find attached information from NHS England relating to Mefloquine, an anti-malarial which was prescribed to military personnel who were operating or training in Sub-Saharan...

Update on meeting between GPC and PCSE (10 August 2016)

The General Practitioner Committee (GPC) of the British Medical Association (BMA) recently met with Primary Care Support England to discuss how the performance of the service is impacting upon...

General Practice Resilience Programme

NHS England has published details of its General Practice Resilience Programme. This document sets out the extent of NHS England's commitment to supporting and stabilise practices in difficulty....

New Care Models Programme Monthly Stakeholder Bulletin - March 2016

New Care Models Programme's Monthly Stakeholder Bulletin

Weekly Newsletter from Chaand Nagpual: Financial uncertainty a stark reality for one third of GP practices

Latest Update from BMA GPs Committee Chair

Reminder - Indicators no longer in QOF

Please note the GPC email below relating to retired QOF indicators: Dear LMCs Practices in some areas have been asked again to accept requests within the Calculating Quality Reporting Service...

Kent LMC's response to the imposition of the Junior Doctor Contract - February 2016

Kent LMC's response to the imposition of the Junior Doctor contract - 12th February 2016

BMA Urgent Prescription for General Practice

General Practice is facing some of its toughest challenges. The BMA's Urgent Prescription for General Practice highlights the issues and provides some practical advice on how to meet the...

Primary Care Support England (PCSE) - Medical Records Transformation Project Update November 2017

NHS England and PCSE have agreed the ‘go live’ date for Phase 3 of the medical records transformation project which includes the Kent practices. Please find attached the documents that have been...

Meningogoccal B for Infants FAQs

Dear colleagues Meningococcal B for infants FAQs NHS Employers have updated their vaccs and imms FAQs in relation to meningococcal B for infants to explain the eligible age cohort (2 - 13...