Tag Archives: General Practice

OPEL – a new pressure reporting system for general practice

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One Care’s business intelligence team and urgent care programme are developing a new online OPEL reporting system for BNSSG general practice.

OPEL stands for operational pressures escalation levels. With the need to demonstrate general practice pressure high on the national agenda, the new system will provide a daily, data-based picture of activity.

It will enable general practice to demonstrate the pressure it is under in the same way as the acute hospitals and other providers, and will:

  • support robust representation for general practice within the BNSSG system
  • strengthen general practice’s position for negotiating increased resources
  • help to identify practices who could benefit from One Care support
Extracted data

The OPEL reporting uses EMIS explorer analytics (EXA) to automatically extract daily information from practice appointment books, to demonstrate on-the-day demand and capacity.

The extracted data will generate OPEL levels for each practice (green, amber, red, black) based on agreed percentages. This will feed into the system-wide OPEL reporting, and trigger action cards outlining recommendations for each level. The action cards are being developed with the ICB and system colleagues.

Mitigating issues

A key aim of the new system is to identify patterns and risks early, and offer practices proactive, tailored support. For those practices under significant pressure, a range of agreed actions and interventions will be available. One Care is working with the ICB and partners to develop these.

Development and launch

The project will be implemented in phases, initially looking at capacity and activity over a rolling period to generate baseline data and trends. This will be refined over time as the system learns each practices’ patterns, and further elements will be introduced.

One Care has worked with a test practice to trial the data extraction, and is now on-boarding practices. Practices wanting to be included in, and have access to, the reporting will need to sign the data sharing agreement and switch on EXA – please contact business.intellgence@onecare.org.uk for help with this. Avon LMC is supportive of the project and encourages practices to sign up.

If you’d like to know more, please contact ruth.thomas@onecare.org.uk

You can also watch February’s webinar, covering the project’s development and planned implementation here – Urgent care programme TeamNet page

Supporting you to meet the Accessible Information Standard

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The Accessible Information Standard (AIS) has been a legal requirement for all organisations that provide NHS care, including general practice, since 2016. There is now a concerted effort across the BNSSG system to ensure all partners (NBT, UHBW, Sirona, local authorities) comply with the Standard in an effort to improve care for people with disabilities.

The AIS aims to ensure everyone can understand the information they need as part of their care. For some people, i.e. those with physical, sensory or cognitive impairments, this may require healthcare organisations to make some reasonable adjustments.

One Care’s AIS project can help your practice achieve compliance with the AIS. You can read our top tips below, download the AIS toolkit from TeamNet, and contact us for one-to-one bespoke support and staff training. The one-to-one support will take you through the practical steps needed to implement the AIS, and help you successfully integrate compliance into your existing practice processes.

There are five steps to the AIS.  They are Identify, Record, Flag, Share, and Meet.

Here are some things you can do to help your practice implement these steps.

  • Put posters up in your waiting room to encourage patients or their carers to let you know what reasonable adjustments they might need. You could also put a line on patient correspondence to let them know they can request information in alternative formats, such as braille or large print
  • Use the Reasonable Adjustments Digital Flag and / or EMIS warnings to record patients’ information and communication needs, to ensure they’re visible to colleagues accessing their records
  • When recording reasonable adjustments, focus on needs rather than conditions. For example, rather than “patient has macular degeneration” try “needs letters in large print” and specify the font size
  • Ensure staff are aware of the AIS and your practice’s policies and procedures
  • Log incidents where patients’ AIS needs are not met, e.g. as learning events

Remember, compliance with the AIS forms part of CQC inspections, under the key statement ‘providing information’. It’s therefore important to document what your practice is doing to meet the Standard.

If you would like more information, or one-to-one support with the AIS, please contact alasdair.wallace@onecare.org.uk

NHS App project

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The NHS App project aims to increase the usage of the NHS App, promote digital inclusion, and reduce SMS costs by maximising messaging sent through the NHS App free of charge.

The project, which is funded by the ICB, has been in collaboration with practices across BNSSG, to ensure they understand the benefits of the app, how they can integrate it into their own workflows and how best to support patients in using it. Organisations such as the acute hospitals, AWP, local councils and Sirona sit on the project board and contribute to the project aims.

To reduce traffic to practice phonelines, the project has shared details of community organisations (e.g. public libraries and VCSE’s) with BNSSG practices, to provide patients with support and guidance on how to use the app to manage their care online.

The project has also launched a local communications campaign in which they sent NHS App promotional materials to all pharmacies across BNSSG.

The NHS App project:

  • releases time for practices by streamlining patient access to medical records, test results and ordering repeat prescriptions on the app
  • automates the process for reducing SMS templates and provides practices within BNSSG with the resource to do so, enabling efficient use of SMS messaging – the costs for which are covered by the ICB
  • promotes digital inclusion by engaging patients in one-to-one support sessions to encourage the use of the NHS App through supporting with language barriers and providing access to devices and connectivity

The NHS App project provides free training to staff in general practice on the promotion and functionality of the app. Grace Mander, the project manager for the NHS App project, has said ‘This support has helped practices feel confident about promoting the app to their patients.’

Please reach out to Grace or the team at nhs.app@onecare.org.uk to understand how the NHS App can benefit your practice and your patients.

Delivering digital support for BNSSG general practice

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One Care’s digital team had a busy 2023 successfully supporting practices across BNSSG.

The team offers a range of digital expertise to practices – from in-person EMIS and managed referral training, to help with day-to-day operational TeamNet issues. Last year the team completed just under 400 tasks for practices.

Bex Tilling, head of One Care’s digital support, said “Our team of specialists help practices with their digital issues, systems and programmes. We advise over phone and email, and visit practices for in-person discussions or training.”

Last year the team helped 43 practices with CareFlow Connect, and carried out a LARC audit for 23 practices. The team also trialled a new enhanced digital support initiative – 76% of practices have so far received hands-on support under the new plan, and nearly a quarter of practices have completed the team’s digital maturity survey, which helps them understand the gaps in their digital provision.

Additionally, the digital team last year developed a range of searches and protocols to help the working life of practices. The most used of these included the homeless health dietician template; cholesterol launcher; and diabetes protocol.

All practices were busy on TeamNet last year with an average of 2,566 users logging in each month, and the team provided in-person TeamNet training for nine practices.

Bex said “As well as helping with existing systems we’re also here to advise practices on the most appropriate new digital systems for their needs, and through our digital forum we share best practice among managers.”

Forty-two practices/PCNs​ have so far participated in the team’s digital forum, along with representatives from One Care, the ICB, the Training Hub, and CSU.

Bex added “We’ve had a really positive year of activity with practices. Digital systems are central to practice operations and management and we’re here to help practices improve their digital confidence and make sense of what’s out there.”

To discuss any digital needs please contact digital@onecare.org.uk

 

 

 

Introducing the new general practice activity data (GPAD) slot analysis tool

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One Care’s business intelligence team, with support from Pier Health, has developed a new Excel tool to help practices accurately code their slots and ensure their data is in line with national guidance. This can increase funding for indicators linked to national slot categories like ACC-08.

Using the slot analysis tool, practices can see how all slots were mapped to national categories in previous months, giving them a clear visual overview of all slot allocations across their PCN for a period of time. Many slots were previously incorrectly mapped, which impacted practices’ income.

Harry Paul, data manager at One Care, said “We realised practices were finding the national dashboard complicated and regularly delayed in data provision. Consequently, slots were being mapped incorrectly meaning practices may not have been paid correctly for the work being done.

“Our new slot analysis tool reconciles what activity practices believe has taken place, with the activity that has actually taken place. It provides accurate and reliable data and we’d encourage all practices to use it. This development would not have been possible without One Care’s Kah Chan and Joe Smith at Pier Health.”

The new tool will:

  • ensure accurate retrospective slot coding
  • allow practices to check slots are mapped correctly to improve slot-linked payments
  • provide useful data for forward planning

Practices keen to find out more and to be given access to the analysis tool should contact business.intelligence@onecare.org.uk

 

GPCB supports PCNs’ successful bid for additional ARI hub funding

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Primary Care Networks (PCNs) in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire successfully set up acute respiratory infection (ARI) hubs in January, after GP Collaborative Board (GPCB) support enabled them to bid for national funding. 

It followed an NHS England invitation for funding bids to set up ARI hubs, to address extra demand over the winter from patients with respiratory infections, including invasive Group A Strep in children.  

The hub model was based on the Covid vaccination model of flexible care across PCNs, meaning patients are cared for in the community. This approach allowed additional appointments and clinical resources to be dedicated to patients’ respiratory illnesses, reducing the impact on core practice services over winter.  

The mobilisation of general practice at scale across BNSSG, led by the GPCB, meant that BNSSG practices secured the full funding allocation for the area and established the hubs in a very short timeframe. This enabled 17,000 additional appointments to be offered between January and March.  

Funding was distributed based on PCN size, meaning equitable distribution among all PCNs. In future bids, the GPCB will explore how funding can be used to support practices in areas of deprivation to reduce health inequalities across BNSSG. 

An additional project from the same fund was run by University Hospitals Bristol and Weston (UHBW) children’s emergency department. The GPCB worked collaboratively with UHBW to share best practice; understand differing models of care across primary and secondary care in detail; and coordinate the projects to provide optimal benefit to patients.  

 Jim Hodgson, GPCB programme manager for urgent care, said “With the support of the GPCB, we managed to bring in a significant amount of funding into BNSSG to support practices and patients during the winter months. We overcame the challenges of tight deadlines and difficulties in the model to support practices to provide great care for their patients. We look forward to building on the learning and value of this winter’s model, taking the learning and insights to develop an even more effective response next winter.” 

Introducing population health analysis support from One Care

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One Care has launched a population health analyst support service, which aims to help primary care networks (PCNs) in Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) gain better insights into the health needs of their populations and the inequalities experienced by different patient groups.

The team provide intelligent insight to support PCNs to design and deliver appropriate services and interventions to address the identified needs.

The population health analysts at One Care also work with the wider healthcare system in making effective decisions to support general practice and the health and wellbeing of the local population.

The analysts are working on several projects, including:

  • Dashboards to support locality ageing well programmes, showing the distribution, relationships and inequalities of various priority health areas across an area (including COPD, diabetes, heart failure). The dashboards visualise overall prevalence of conditions at each practice in the locality, while also breaking them down by age, deprivation and geography to show the most affected areas
  • Sharing priority patients lists for practices across BNSSG, based on clinical risk and amenability to benefit from targeted sets of appropriate interventions, for example: vaccinations; chronic disease reviews; advanced care plans; and cancer screening.
  • Reports on cardiovascular disease, its relationship with other long-term conditions, prescribing patterns, and patient activity within the practice, with a focus on prevention and identifying gaps in existing care
  • PCN reports and priority lists of patients suffering from a combination of long-term mental and physical health challenges, to support a personalised approach to care and continuity

Rhys Lewis, head of digital at One Care, said: “General practice has a unique role in understanding the underlying causes of ill health and supporting communities to address them and drive improvement. We encourage all PCNs to get in touch with One Care’s team to collaborate on turning data into meaningful intelligence to address population health and begin to tackle inequalities.”

Each PCN in BNSSG has a dedicated One Care analyst, who can be asked to investigate specific topics or areas where clinicians feel targeted work is needed. The team is available to meet with PCNs or practices that would like to know more or make use of the service. It can be contacted via email at business.intelligence@onecare.org.uk.

‘Meet Team GP’ launches today

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One Care and Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (BNSSG ICB) have launched a new public information campaign, called ‘Meet Team GP’.

The campaign introduces and explains the various professional healthcare roles working in general practice – what they are, what they do, and how they help get patients the right care at the right time.

It covers roles such as paramedics; first contact physiotherapists; clinical pharmacists; physician associates; care coordinators and more.

The aim is to improve public awareness and understanding of these roles, so patients will understand why they may be offered appointments with one of these healthcare professionals instead of a GP, and accept these appointments.

‘Meet Team GP’ uses photographs, quotes and videos featuring real practice staff from BNSSG explaining their roles. The video case studies explain some of the roles, and how they provide patient care, in more depth.

As well as advertising on social media platforms, the campaign has packs for practices to use, including digital screen images and posters for reception areas.

Learn more about the campaign on BNSSG ICB’s microsite.

GPCB outpatients group seeks to improve primary and secondary interface

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The General Practice Collaborative Board (GPCB) was set up by all practices in BNSSG to represent the voice of general practice in system discussions and decision-making.

To ensure general practice is properly represented within Integrated Care System (ICS) programmes of work, the GPCB created its own infrastructure for general practice transformation programmes.

One of these programmes is outpatients. The GPCB set up a committee, bringing together GPs and practice managers from across BNSSG, to provide general practice input to the ICS outpatients programme. It is led by Dr Nicola McGuinness, clinical lead, and Ruth Hughes, programme manager, and works closely with the Avon LMC and the clinical lead for planned care at the Integrated Care Board.

The GPCB outpatients network is funded by the ICS, which allows general practice to be part of key discussions and decision-making in the same way as the acute trusts and Sirona. This is significant for general practice as it allows us both to influence the existing projects and raise our own at-scale issues at a system level to find solutions together.

This improves the relationships and interface between general practice and secondary care, which supports the new ways of working in an ICS: putting the patient in the centre and building support and services around them.

One of the successes of the group so far has been collecting feedback from staff in general practice about advice and guidance processes to bring into the system review of the service. This means the views of both primary and secondary care are brought into discussions about how to improve the service.

The network has also worked with the trusts and the Integrated Care Board to think about how data can be used to support understanding of waiting times for hospital appointments. Following these discussions, the trusts and the ICB are looking at how to ensure accurate, local data is available for clinicians referring into secondary care, and for patients who are waiting for their appointments. This is important to give patients a realistic expectation of wait times, and what they can do in the meantime to support their health.

Dr Nicola McGuinness, GP in North and West Bristol and clinical lead for this programme, said, “The GPCB outpatients network is key to ensuring general practice is represented in the wider ICS outpatients programme. Our successes so far show that involving general practice in system outpatients work ensures the patient experience at the community end of their care is represented.”

One Care releases IIF tracking dashboard for primary care networks

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One Care’s businesses intelligence team have developed a new dashboard to help general practice in BNSSG monitor progress against national targets from the Investment and Impact Fund (IIF).

The IIF is an incentive scheme that rewards primary care networks (PCNs) for delivering high quality care to patients, improving population health and delivering priority objectives from the NHS Long Term Plan.

It measures PCNs’ performance against a set of targets relating to health inequalities, personalised, preventative and anticipatory care, medicines optimisation, and environmental sustainability.

The One Care dashboard has been developed to help PCN managers and clinical leads track how their PCN is performing against these targets, and what level of income they can expect to receive as a result.

The team is also developing a practice-level dashboard, enable visibility of how each practice in a PCN is contributing.

Rhys Lewis, Head of Digital at One Care, said: “The PCN DES (of which IIF is part) is an important source of funding for general practice. A typical PCN in England could earn around £100,000 , so it’s important our PCNs have an easy way to see how they’re doing, and identify where the most cost-effective action can be taken to maximise this income.

“Feedback so far has been really positive. PCNs can see its value and understand what it can do for them. We’re currently developing the next iteration, which will help PCNs see where they can expect to be tracking towards the end of the financial year, and how their resources are best focussed to deliver the maximum benefit for their patients and maximise income.”

If you would like to know more about the dashboard, or have any feedback, please email business.intelligence@onecare.org.uk