Issue - meetings

Report and presentation attached.

A representative of Havering CCG explained that of 44 GP practices in Havering, 15 were single-handed. Many GPs and nurses were also approaching retirement and Havering also had an elderly population. All Havering GP practices had been assessed Care Quality Commission and most (38) of the practices had been rated as good. None had been considered excellent and 5 practices had rated as requiring improvement. One practice had received an inadequate rating and was now in special measures.

The CCG wished for GP practices to collaborate more with each other to have more practices located in modern buildings with more consulting rooms available. The move of some practices to a Personal Medical Services contract would mean GPs at these practices would lose some payments but would introduce some extra monies to for example provide more appointments for patients.

There was a better GP:patients ratio in Havering than in Barking & Dagenham and Redbridge but Havering’s figures were still below the average both for London and nationally. The GP nurse:patient ratio in Havering was also worse than the average.

Attempts had been made to recruit GPs from overseas but this had not been very successful with only two GPs recruited so far from a target of 35 for Outer North East London with the recruited GPs in fact being based in Waltham Forest. More opportunities were now available for GPs to spend time working with other stakeholders and seven GP had recently commenced work in Havering on this basis.

Physician associate posts had been introduced who could assist with triage, taking histories etc although could not at present prescribe. Forty local students were currently studying for these positions with the first graduates expected in January 2019. Other plans included employing more clinical pharmacists for primary care and recruiting a senior nurse leader for primary care. There were no longer nursing bursaries although a small bursary was available for students undertaking the nurse associates course.

Other local developments included the move of all GPs to electronic referrals work to improve diabetic health checks and prevention. Pulse checks could be used to identify patients at risk of a stroke and work was ongoing to identify more patients at risk of stroke.

Funding had been given to GP practices to improve workflows and improvement grants had also been received from NHS England in order to build new consulting rooms etc. Investment in technology included voice recognition software to reduced GP paperwork and two-way text messaging re appointments which led to a financial saving through fewer missed appointments. The CCG also wished to have a single IT system for all GPs in Havering and that practices used the E-consult system for arranging repeat prescriptions etc.

Responses to the recent consultation on primary care were currently being analysed. The CCG was planning for the expected population growth in the borough with new health centres planned at Beam Park and on the former St George’s Hospital site. It was also hoped to move some single handed GPs to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14