COVID-19: 8th July COVID-19 round-up for primary care
Today the annual GP patient survey has been published and despite it being an incredibly challenging year for everyone, it’s great to see overall trust and satisfaction with general practice has increased, with 83% of patients describing their overall experience of their GP practice as good and 7 in 10 patients reporting a good experience when making an appointment.
It’s also positive to see that patients are getting to see the wider general practice team including over a quarter of appointments with a nurse, showing the value and importance of the wider primary care family. Dr Graham Jackson, GP and Senior Clinical Advisor at the NHS Confederation welcomed the increase in patient satisfaction and acknowledged that colleagues in primary care are working hard to address the backlog of those who stayed away can be prioritised based on need.
We’d like to thank everyone in general practice for being there for their patients and communities.
Infection Prevention Control IPC in healthcare settings
Following the PMs announcement that face coverings will be optional and social distancing will not be necessary from 19 July, it is important to note that current IPC guidance remains in place at this time.
Lateral flow device distribution and assuring compliance to testing regimes
Asymptomatic staff testing remains an important component of infection prevention and control, which all organisations and staff should adhere to. From Monday 5 July, NHS staff can order their tests directly through the government lateral flow test ordering portal for delivery to their home address.
Primary care staff will continue to report their test on the gov.uk website as per current practice. Trusts can choose whether to continue with their internal method of reporting results as per current practice, or whether to direct staff to reporting on the gov.uk website. More information is in our letter and supporting guidance.
Acceleration of second doses for all cohort
The government has set out their latest guidance for appointments of a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to be brought forward from 12 to eight weeks for the remaining people in all cohorts who have yet to receive their second dose. Our letter published on 6 July outlines what actions are needed across all vaccination sites settings.
Aligning the upper age for NHS prescription charge exemptions with the State Pension age
The government is seeking views on changing the age at which older people in England become eligible for free prescriptions, from 60 to 66 years of age. The consultation is open until 11.45pm on Thursday 26 August.
Your chance to inform staff training in primary care
Health Education England and NHS England and NHS Improvement would like to hear from pharmacists about their experiences of remote triage, care navigation, online and video consultations in general practice. Your input will allow us to design effective training to support all primary care staff and trainees to confidently work with these approaches.
If you would like to be interviewed, please contact Frances Brown at Nightingale Research at francesbrown@nightingaledesignresearch.com by the 14 July. Find out more about the study. For any questions about the project contact the Digital First Primary Care team at
england.digitalfirstprimarycare@nhs.net.
