July Newsletter

Covid-19  

So… Freedom Day has come and gone. We can all get back to normal – go nightclubbing, fling our masks in the bin and generally cavort about the streets of Yorkshire in a festivity of Bacchanalian hedonism. Right?  Well not quite …  

 On the same day as Freedom Day, NHSE released C1354 Staff Isolation: Approach following updated Government Guidance which outlines guidance to providers “to allow essential staff to return to work following a negative PCR test if they have been asked to isolate due to potential contact with Covid 19”. So that’s alright then. Carry on cavorting everyone. So, if your app pings after that much planned train trip to see your family or the day after that meal out you've postponed for over a year, you can rest assured that every provider has a clear pathway to help you get that test ASAP… Well, not quite...  

Most CCGs are playing catch up with this so, as yet, we haven’t got clarity on who you need to ask for the same day test. And of course, it’s more of a challenge for us as locums, if the test request has to come via a practice… but we have been here before, with Covid testing in the early days, so let’s hope test requests are simple.

For now, if you are in the unfortunate position of needing an urgent PCR test, let us know and we’ll do everything we can to facilitate it.

And at least we now can be reassured that mask wearing in a clinical setting remains the recommendation.  

All this highlights the unavoidable fact that Covid-19 is here to stay. It's currently not a problem to be solved but a predicament we are in.

All predicaments are difficult, confusing or unpleasant. Unlike problems, which suggests solutions, a predicament can be something that is hard to solve and each of us have our own decisions to make, each answer raising more questions.

It’s tempting to think it might just be simpler to switch the app off than risk getting a ping … but, of course, we also have responsibilities.

So, this week’s meeting is going to encourage reflection and discussion about how Covid-19 has been a predicament for us. We will be focusing on workplace issues and professional duties, but the conversation is likely to wander into our personal experiences and our responsibilities to our communities.

I’m attaching a link to the GMC website that tables the ethical problems around Covid-19 and these headings will form the basis of our discussion:

https://www.gmc-uk.org/ethical-guidance/ethical-hub/covid-19-questions-and-answers#Working-safely

They are:  

• Vaccines
• Your health and wellbeing
• Working safely
• Remote consultations
• Decision making and consent
• Confidentiality and social media
• Leadership
• End of life care

Pensions  

In case you missed Andy’s email about your pension contributions here is the detail again. Have to say that Andy and Carole have worked extremely hard to get this set up in the face of the usual levels of competency we have come to appreciate in the superannuation labyrinth of PCSE.  And thanks to those of you who have volunteered to trial the system. As far as I am aware this process is far simpler than the multiple steps independent locums will now need to be taking to submit their forms, another bonus of being a Chambers member.  

This only applies to members who are contributing to the NHS pension scheme.

From August we intend to upload all members pension forms directly to PCSE, that will be for July’s Form B (which is for work done in June). This means all members (other than those who are participating in our guineapig run) should continue to upload their pension Form Bs up to June (work done in May) in the usual way.

 The Process will be as follows:

1. Chambers will upload all your form as for work done in June – we will chase these in the usual way, so you do not need to worry.
2. When we have done this, we will send you an email stating that it is done and to wait for PCSE to ask you for payment, we will also tell you what to do and what payment you will be expected to make. (PLEASE WAIT FOR THE PCSE EMAIL BEFORE MAKING PAYMENT)
3. Chambers will continue to calculate the Form B in ImpaxHub so you will see when submitted and you can still download this if you want, HOWEVER PCSE will also calculate your Form Bs in the PCSE online system and these will be your master copies, ours will only be for reference.  Eventually, when we are all confident that we can access our forms consistently in the PCSE online system we will probably remove the Form Bs from our system, but this may be a way ahead.
4. On the 7th of every month PCSE will run a collating job on their system which will create an email to you asking for the payment.  At this point you will need to go onto PCSE online and follow these instructions “The GP will have to then login to PCSE Online navigate to GP pensions and payment > Pensions > Recording Income Stream > Recording Income Stream > Click here to enter Locum Payments > Select the form and method of payments then select Save. They should then send over the contributions using the reference and amount provided.”

 Potential pitfalls to be aware of,

• On your log in screen, you should have two options – Performer’s list and GP Pensions and Payment, let us know if you don’t have both of these (it means they will not have given you the right access).
• There may be a difference of a couple of pence in the pension payments, this is because despite the fact that we calculate the forms in the exact manner that PCSE ask us to on the pension Form B instructions, they don’t and so because of rounding up and down of the total payments from practices they are sometimes a few pence out (you may have had emails from them in the past saying the calculations are wrong by 1 or 2 pence).  Please just pay the figure they suggest, for the sake of a few pence it is not worth the hours of paperwork and recalculations that you would have to go through to prove you are right!
• It is possible to submit more than one month’s work at once under two different UPRs (unique reference numbers), the system will manage this OK, but you would have two separate emails.

*What you NEED to do now*:

Please go onto PCSE online https://secure.pcse.england.nhs.uk/_forms/pcsssignin.aspx and login to check you have the right access, if not we can request this from PCSE (by right access I mean you should see two buttons – Performer’s list and GP Pensions and Payment.)

Education  

And finally, I’m reminding you again about this amazing offer from NB Medical, in case you missed it... I find the podcast really accessible as it is coffee break short and picks up topics that make a difference to our practice that are often overlooked. This week, Rob talked about antispasmodics in low back pain which seemed highly relevant to a friend of mine laid flat after shifting a sofa last week.

https://www.nbmedical.com/podcast/episode-15-self-isolation-freedom-and-gp-drug-optimisation-for-the-multimorbid-antispasmodics-for-low-back-pain

You will remember that back at the beginning of the year we told you about our new partnership with the NB Medical team. Well, I am delighted to share with you our exclusive offer from NB Medical (see attached documents for more details):

• NB Medical Appraisal Essentials     
  • Safeguarding & Child Protection
  • Basic Life Support Refresher course including AED
• Complimentary LIVE Webinars
  • Upcoming LIVE 1-hour Hot Topic Clinics
    • Cancer Screening – Tuesday 14th September
    • Diagnostic Testing and Safety Netting – Tuesday 9th November
    • Cancer & The Impact of Covid – Tuesday 18th January
  • Portfolio of over 20 on-demand 1-hour webinars including:
    • Telephone triage and video consulting
    • Mental Health
    • Diabetes
    • Women’s Health
• Introducing The Green GP Course – Tuesday 12th October 6-9.30pm
• Free CPD Modules available to try in the NB app and via the NB dashboard:
  • Gender Diversity
  • Bipolar
  • Gout
  • Hypertension
  • Sepsis
  • KISS Quiz – bipolar disorder
  • KISS Quiz – Bell’s Palsy
  • KISS Quiz – Knee Pain
• Podcasts presented by Dr Neal Tucker
• Keep it Simple Summaries (KISS)
• Weekly Blog Updates

Hope you are all well.

Stay safe!

Hester and the Chambers Team