5 November 2020
Documents can be found here
If you are receiving this update as a practice manager, please make sure you do share it with your colleagues, including sessional GPs.
ASK OF THE WEEK
Action: Note the changes to guidance for clinically extremely vulnerable people and take the actions outlined in the letter from NHSE
Children and young people:
- You will be aware that over the summer, hospital specialists and GPs were asked to review all children on the shielded patient list in light of a changed set of clinical criteria provided by the Royal College of Paediatricians and Child Health, which showed that the risk of serious illness for children and young people is so low that only those with the most severe conditions should now be considered clinically extremely vulnerable. Therefore, following clinical review, most children would be able to be removed from the shielded patient list.
- Families in NWL with an extremely vulnerable child should have already received clear information on this from their specialist paediatrician. If the child is not under a paediatrician, the child won’t be extremely vulnerable.
- The Government has now written to all parents of children on the shielded patient list, reminding them of the precautions they need to take, and advising them to contact their specialist or GP for advice. A copy of the letter can be found here.
- NWL have produced a flow chart to help guide GPs if they are called by a family for advice. It is attached to this email. Advice and guidance is also readily available from NWL paediatricians – see the other attached document.
- NHSE have also written to GPs about this. A copy of the letter can be found here
Adults
- Adults who are clinically extremely vulnerable have also received a new letter from the Government reminding of the precautions they should take.
- The new guidance adds two new groups of adult patients to the criteria for ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’:
- adults with stage 5 chronic kidney disease (not on dialysis or with a renal transplant – these patients should already be on the SPL)
- adults with Down’s syndrome
- NHSE has asked GPs to identify, contact and flag adults with Down’s syndrome. Details of how to do so are in the NHSE letter.
Contact for any questions
HELP FIND TREATMENTS FOR COVID-19
Action: Signpost patients to the PRINCIPLE website if you think they may be eligible for this University of Oxford clinical study (to find Covid-19 treatments for people aged 50+)
PRINCIPLE is a nationwide clinical study from the University of Oxford to find COVID-19 treatments for the over 50s that can be taken at home.
The PRINCIPLE trial offers an opportunity for any patient aged over 50 anywhere in the country to join a trial of treatments for COVID-19 if they are eligible. Patients can join online, from home, for those that may be interested in being involved in the trial
The current arms are: Doxycycline, Azithromycin and treatment as usual with possibly more coming on, due to it being a platform trial
Eligibility criteria is as follows:
- Aged > 65
- Aged 50-65 with co-morbidities
- Symptoms of Covid not needing hospital assessment (ie continuous cough, change test/smell , pyrexia etc for less than 14 day
- This group do NOT need a positive Covid test to be eligible
- Also possibly eligible are those in these age groups who have had a positive Covid test and still are not feeling better
Visit www.principletrial.org or call the Trial Team on 0800 138 0880.
NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR PATIENT INVOLEMENT IN PRIMARY CARE HEALTH RESEARCH
Action: Publicise the new health data research opportunities for North West London through tools from Discover-NOW, Health Data Research Hub for Real World Evidence
Discover-NOW, hosted by Imperial College Health Partners, have made available two health data research tools for Primary Care to use which have been approved by the NWL Information Governance board and reviewed by the LLMC. They support and make it easier for patient involvement in health research, in line with the research aims of the NHS Long Term Plan.
Action to access these tools: In the first instance, you will need to review and accept new documentation which has been uploaded onto the Data Controller Console (DCC) before you can access these Discover-NOW tools. The ISS, MDPA & DPIA documents have all been approved by the NWL IG board and reviewed by the LLMC.
- FARSITE (Feasibility And Recruitment System for Improving Trial Efficiency) – an online tool for searching, finding, and contacting patients with research opportunities, whilst still preserving their confidentiality. It enables GPs to decide whether their patient should be contacted to be invited to participate in a specific research study.
- North West London Health Research Register - register of adults 18 and over living in North West London who are interested in health research and want to find out more about health research opportunities. It supports more patients to become more quickly involved in research beyond what is running at their GP practice.
For more information and to book a short introductory session explaining how these tools work and the opportunities for health data research in Primary Care, please get in touch with the Discover-NOW team FARSITE@imperialcollegehealthpartners.com
You can read more about the tools here
OPPORTUNITY FOR GP STAFF TO SUPPORT PATIENT DECISION-MAKING ABOUT ADMISSION TO INTENSIVE CARE
Action: Email Imperial trust project lead Adam Lound if you are interested in joining a new project aimed at co-designing materials for people living with long-term conditions and frailty. The new material aims to improve the help available for people when they make decisions about how they would want to be treated and cared for if they faced an acute health crisis
Imperial College London are looking for people employed in General Practice settings to take part in a project sponsored by Imperial College London and funded by the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre.
The project aims to co-design information materials that will assist people living with long term health conditions and frailty. Specifically the goal is to help inform their decisions about how they would want to be treated and cared for if they faced an acute health crisis.
There are a number of opportunities in which to be involved in this project. These include:
- participating in interviews (30-60 minutes),
- a focus group (up to 2hrs)
- and co-design workshops (3 half days).
All involvement will be reimbursed at normal rates.
If you are interested in participating please contact Adam Lound (a.lound@imperial.ac.uk) for more information.
WEEKLY NHS MESSAGES FROM NW LONDON
For more information, contact nwlccgs.communications.nwl@nhs.net.
