Update from health officers.
Minutes:
Officers explained that the Primary Medical Services (PMS) was one of several contracts used for GPs and this was now under review nationally. Fifteen Havering GP practices used the PMS contract which carried a total premium of £1.1 million and equated to additional funding of £10-12 per patient.
The London PMS offer had now been confirmed by NHS England and this included mandatory Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as influenza services and cervical screening as well as optional KPIs covering areas such as breast screening and walk-in centres. In addition, premium service specifications in the London offer covered better use of on-line technology for patients, Saturday morning GP openings (as seen at the two hubs in Havering which could now access patients’ GP records) and allowing additional hours and appointments capacity at practices. The total premium for Havering practices for these services equated to £11.18 per patient.
In view of these targets, PMS practices would be asked over the next year to increase patient uptake of on-line services. The Local Medical Committee had been receptive to overall commissioning intentions although individual negotiations with practices had not taken place as yet.
Two practices in Havering now provided blood pressure and ECG checks and it was felt more effective to commission these types of services from GP practices. The new services would be monitored by Primary Care Commissioning officers as well as via the Council and Healthwatch.
In line with national trends, there was a shortage of GPs in Havering. Officers had sought to resolve this by working towards more place-based commissioning as well as considering new roles and career opportunities for GPs and other practice staff such as nurses.
It was confirmed that some practices allowed patients to register at the practice address in case of homelessness etc but thus did not apply to all Havering GPs. There were also plans to remodel the sexual health service to form a more attractive offer for women. Officers agreed that practice nurses could potentially be used to work on this service.
It was clarified that GPs owned patient records on behalf of the Secretary of State. Each time a patient visited a GP hub, they were required to give consent for their records to be shared.
As regards appointments where patients did not attend (DNAs) these constituted 9-13% of GP appointments in Havering and cost in the region of £1 million a year overall. It was hoped that work to extend access to GPs would result in less DNAs occurring. Officers would confirm which GPs offered phlebotomy services.
The Sub-Committee were pleased that work with NELFT such as the Community Treatment Team had won a number of awards and was seen as a best practice model. Staff morale in the service was felt to be very good.
The new GP practice was at Orchard Village as currently under procurement and was due to open in October 2016. The walk-centre for this area would remain at South Hornchurch Health Centre. The Kings Park surgery contract in Harold Wood was also currently under procurement and the contract with the current providers had been extended until March 2017. Both the walk-in centre and GP contracts for the site would be procured at this point.
It was noted that one Havering GP practice had recently given notice of retirement and officers would provide further details on this.
The Sub-Committee NOTED the position and thanked officers for their input to the meeting.