GP Weekly Update (Last update: 21.01.21)

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In this bulletin:

• COVID-19: Primary Care COVID-19 Vaccination Programme
• Shielding Advice
• Income Protection
• Extended Access Arrangements from April 2021
• Free COVID PPE Scheme
• Co-administering Flu and COVID Vaccines

Primary Care COVID-19 Vaccination Programme

The amazing work being delivered in primary care means that the COVID-19 vaccination programme is moving very quickly through the priority cohorts, including vaccination of care home residents and staff, and some of the housebound Patients. However, the number of new cases of COVID-19 continues to rise and last week we saw the highest number of people who had died (within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test by date of death) since the pandemic began.

Guidance and resources are available from NHS England on the Primary Care webpage and the on the COVID-19 vaccination programme webpage. Information is also available on the FutureNHS Collaboration Platform, but here is an update on the current situation:

• Vaccination Sites
  1. 96% of the population is now within 10 miles of a vaccine service
  2. Providing depth of coverage as well as working through the cohorts

• Vaccination in Older Adult Care Homes
  • Expecting the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to be given to all care home residents and staff by 24 January
  • Vaccination should still take place in care homes with outbreaks
  • All care home residents and staff should receive prompt vaccination if they are not acutely unwell or had onset of COVID-19 symptoms in the last four weeks
  • A risk assessment to enable safe vaccination to go ahead must be carried out by the lead vaccinator, in conjunction with the care home manager
  • COVID-19 vaccination in older adult care homes – the next stage

• Movement of Oxford/Astra Zeneca Vaccine
  1. Recommended for home visits
  2. Must be stored at +2°C to 8°C until first use
  3. Can be stored between +2°C and 25°C during the in-use period
  4. After the vial has been punctured, it must be used within 6 hours
  5. The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) has been updated

• Funding
  1. Item of Service (IoS) fee of £12.58 is per vaccination, payable on completion of the final dose.
  2. It’s vital that Pinnacle Outcomes4Health is used to record vaccinations to ensure payment.
  3. Some limited funding is available for reasonable one-off setup costs.
  4. Care homes supplement:
     • £30 for first dose administered 14 December 2020 – 17 January 2021
     • £20 for first dose administered 18 – 24 January 2021
     • £10 for first dose administered 25 – 31 January 2021
     • £10 for all second doses administered

• Second Dose
  1. The second dose will be administered towards the end of the recommended vaccine dosing schedule of 12 weeks
  2. Most Patients will be booked in the last week of the 12-week period

• Vaccination Feedback Form
  1. An online form is available to share feedback and tips for others

• Prioritisation of Work
  1. Ensure general practice remains fully and safely open for Patients
  2. Support the COVID Oximetry@Home Patient self-monitoring model
  3. Identify and support Patients with Long COVID
  4. Continue to support Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) Patients and maintain the shielding list
  5. Continue to make progress into any backlog of appointments, e.g. chronic disease management, routine vaccinations, etc.
  6. Make significant progress on learning disability health checks
  7. Continue to record ethnicity for all Patients

Shielding Advice

• The Government reintroduced shielding advice for Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) people across all areas of England, including:
  1. Once CEV people have had both doses of the vaccine, they are currently still advised by Government to follow shielding guidance until further notice, as the Government continues to assess the impact of vaccination among all groups
  2. The Government is extending the offer of a free 4-month supply of vitamin D supplements for all adults who are CEV, and they can register up until 21 February 2021

Income Protection

• The Minor Surgery DES income will be protected until March 2021
• The QOF Quality Improvement (QI) domain will be protected in full at 74 points per practice until 31 March 2021
• The 8 prescribing indicators in QOF will be income protected

Extended Access Arrangements from April 2021

Free COVID PPE Scheme

• Extended until at least the end of June 2021, to be reviewed in April 2021
• Primary care providers should continue to access COVID-19 PPE via DHSC PPE portal

Co-administering Flu and COVID Vaccines