4
NEWCASTLE AND NORTH TYNESIDE
LOCAL MEDICAL COMMITTEE
(www.nntlmc.co.uk) (email: )
Chief Executive Officer Executive Officer Executive Officer
Dr. George Rae Dr. David Black Dr. Ken Megson
Beaumont Park Surgery 2 Betts Avenue 29 Beverley terrace
Hepscott Drive Benwell Cullercoats
Whitley Bay Newcastle North Shields
NE26 9XJ NE15 6TQ NE30 4NU
Tel: 0191 2514548 Tel: 0191 2743767 Tel: 07803 989960
Minutes of the meeting of Newcastle and North Tyneside Local Medical Committee held on Tuesday 4th July 2017.
17.35 PRESENT
Dr. G. Rae (Chair) Dr. K. Megson
Dr. D. A. Black Dr. H. G. Cookey
Dr S. Graham Dr. A. McCubbin
Dr J. Matthews Dr. H. Minney
Dr. A. Moore Dr. C. Pandilwar
Dr J. Pearson Dr A. J. Podogrocki
Dr. A. L. Ramshaw Mr. M. Smith
Mr. J. Snaith Dr. S. Summers
17.36 INTRODUCTIONS/APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies were received from Drs Davies, Flint, Morris, Reissmann, Scott, and Wright.
17.37 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
There were no new declarations of interest.
17.38 GP COMMISSIONING
i) Urgent Care Plans North Tyneside
The procurement for the above had been subject to a legal challenge, which would delay the announcement of the winning bidder. It was also mentioned that an article had been published in the Health Service Journal which referred to the legal challenge.
ii) Extended access – Newcastle
The above will remain in place for the remainder of the financial year. The national GP in A&E initiative, known as ‘GP Streaming’ was said to be in its early stages, and it was felt that the north east as a region is quite far ahead of the rest of the country in terms of this project. It was clarified that the £6 per head funding for this will be pro rata for the remainder of the financial year, with GP Streaming to start potentially in September. Questions were asked around how much access the 111 service will have to book slots in the service, and there were some concerns about access for 111 following certain press coverage that stated around 80% of 111 dispositions were inappropriate. It was said that 111 would have access to book slots along with GP practices. It was mentioned that evidence suggests 111 works best when integrated with OOH services. A final summary regarding the initiative had been circulated earlier in the week and it was felt by some that most GPs are primarily interested in clinical work, rather than the political landscape of primary care.
iii) Sessional GPs Education
Some issues had been raised at the previous meeting around how to maintain training for locum GPs, how to encourage documentation of sessional GPs and support training for them. It was mentioned that there are talks in Newcastle regarding offering locum GPs the opportunity to attend TITO sessions for training but that Sessional GPs are always welcome at TITO sessions. It was recognised that there is a need to encourage attendance as there was no good reason not to support locums accessing training. It was mentioned that locums do not get paid time when attending TITO events as opposed to GP Partners and Salaried GPs and that Locums are expected to attend in their own time. However locum fees usually include allowance for CPD, and this should cover these occasions. It was suggested that a system is used to record attendance for these sessions if locums will be attending.
ACTION NEEDED: Item in newsletter with mention of practices publicising training opportunities to locums.
iv) North Tyneside
A care event had been held to support working together in community, with the hopes that this will strengthen the local community services. It was noted that working with the GP federations is important in delivering improvements to community services.
17.39 ACUTE TRUST BUSINESS
i) Changes to NHS Standard Contract
There were no trust representatives present, but it was briefly mentioned that the Changes to the NHS standard contract was on the agenda to be discussed. It was felt that the service conditions in the contract have some ‘wriggle room’.
ACTION NEEDED: Agenda item for September
17.40 GP FEDERATIONS UPDATE
i) North Tyneside
The federation has been working closely with the CCG to design strategy going forward. It was said that the priority for the federation currently is the extended access hours’ initiative, and it was mentioned that the decision has been taken to allow practices to schedule staffing by running the initiative through the practices. It feels in North Tyneside that practices are shaping rather than being shaped. It was felt that the federations in Newcastle and North Tyneside should collaborate to have a foothold in North of Tyne healthcare discussions.
ii) Newcastle
The LMC executives had met with Newcastle Federation representatives the day before the meeting, and that an excellent discussion had been held. The need for collaboration between federations was echoed. It was mentioned that Christian Townend had been recruited, and will start working full time for the federation. It was hoped that the federation would be able to attract a practice management representative from the Newcastle West locality. It was also mentioned that non-clinical recruitment was underway for the Transformation Team headed by Ben Davies.
17.41 MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
The minutes of the meeting held on 6th June 2017 were confirmed as a true record.
17.42 MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
i) Item 17.25 ii) PEP and referral module – Newcastle
It was felt that the monies provided for the above initiative are not sufficient for the amount of work that is incurred and that the balance of money for process and outcome was wrong. It was intimated that a referral management system could be imposed if improvements aren’t seen within 6 months. It was suggested that a clinical advice based system could work to reduce referrals.
ii) Item 17.25 iv) LMC succession plan
Some interest had been shown by an LMC member, and it was hoped that the member in question would be able to make a substantive decision as to whether they will undertake the available position within the next few months. It was reiterated that the execs will not be leaving at the same time, and that support will be provided up to the next LMC conference.
iii) Item 17.32 VoCare Statutory training
VoCare had claimed that the training they had specified was required by CQC, but upon investigation, the CQC had denied specifying this training, and it was possible that VoCare had not taken the time to ascertain which individuals needed to do specific courses, and had instead asked all staff to complete all the courses they were required to provide regardless of job description..
17.43 GENERAL DEBATE SESSION – Focus in Virtual MCPs and Alliance Agreements
A document had been circulated prior to the meeting regarding the above, and it was briefly outlined. There were concerns around autonomy, potentially increased workload and liabilities, and restrictions on leaving the MCP. It was asked whether federations are willing to take on the risks of virtual MCPs. It was said that the unofficial advice from the LMC regarding this is ‘don’t sign anything’. It was mentioned that feedback from the regional LMC regarding this would be received in September.
17.44 CHAIRMAN’S BUSINESS
The Chairman had attended the ARM in Bournemouth the previous week. Several discussions had been held, including a discussion around charging for consultations, which it was said had been largely against charging patients for access to services. It was mentioned that Chaand Nagpaul would be attending the Pulse Live event in Gateshead to give a speech and hold a Q&A session the following day, and that the LMC Chair would be chairing for this event also.
17.45 SECRETARY’S BUSINESS
i) Pre-Reg Nurse placements in practice
Northumbria University has places for pre-reg nursing students, and is hoping to get some of these placed into practices around the area, as well as placing into local hospitals. It was mentioned that the federation in North Tyneside had been working with the university to try and accommodate this, but that there had been no ‘hard sell’ regarding this in Newcastle.
17.46 TREASURER’S BUSINESS
The treasurer had been in contact with the CCG finance department to investigate a possible shortfall in collection levy payments of about 7k,. Feedback will be given in due course.
17.47 PRACTICE MANAGERS’ ISSUES
Capita was cited again as an ongoing issue, and it was mentioned that this has now hit the national press. Some advice had been issued around taking Capita to the small claims court to try and recover losses. Capita have a complaints process but do not respond when complaints are lodged.
17.48 SESSIONAL GP ISSUES
Sessional issues raised at the previous meeting were discussed under prior agenda items.
17.49 ANY OTHER BUSINESS
There was no other business.
17.50 GPC NEWS
There were no matters arising from the GPC news.
17.51 DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday the 5th of September 2017 in the Board Room at the Freeman hospital at 6:45pm.