Quick links to the content on this page:
- Greater Manchester Primary Care COVID-19 Response Briefings
- COVID-19 vaccination programme
- Enabling Safe Certification of Deaths in the Community Service
- Dementia
- Greater Manchester Guidance and Information for Community Pharmacies
- COVID-19 Primary care bulletin
- COVID-19 Primary Care Knowledge Boost Podcasts
- RCGP COVID-19 resources, guidance and FAQs
Greater Manchester Primary Care COVID-19 Response Briefings
These briefing notes are being produced by both commissioner and provider leads to share current information for primary care which may also be able to support some local considerations. The aim of these briefings is to supplement the nationally issued guidance.
- 20th March 2020
- 24th March 2020
- 26th March 2020
- 16th April 2020 (including Covid-19 Assessment in primary care)
- Delivery of pulse oximeters to care homes – May 2020
- Infection control and PPE use by patients accessing primary care and wider community settings
- Contact tracing in Greater Manchester: General Practice Information Pack (11th July 2020)
- Resuming services in general practice: Greater Manchester best practice guide (updated 14th January 2021)
- Appendix 1 Resuming Services based on RCGP Guidance on workload prioritisation during COVID-19
- Appendix 2 GP Excellence resources to support remote working in General Practice
- Appendix 3a Supporting Risk Assessments of BAME Staff at Risk of COVID-19
- Appendix 3b Best practice guide to support primary care to undertake risk assessments with staff
- Appendix 4: GM GP Support Pack – Contact Tracing
- Appendix 5 GP Premises Risk Assessment Checklist
- Appendix 6 Building Health and Safety risk Assessment
- Contact Tracing – Dental information pack (16th July 2020)
- Contact Tracing – Optometry information pack (16th July 2020)
- Contact Tracing – Pharmacy information pack (16th July 2020)
- Covid-19: Primary Care and local restrictions in Greater Manchester (4th August 2020)
- Management of patients presenting with oral and dental problems in non-dental settings (19th August 2020)
- Covid 19 Contact Tracing Guidance for Schools and Primary Care (17th September 2020)
- Greater Manchester Primary Care update (7th October 2020)
- Pausing routine and non urgent hospital care (9th November 2020)
- Primary Care Update (15th December 2020)
- Long Covid GP pack for Tier 1 self-management support (April 2021)
COVID-19 VACCINATION PROGRAMME
Several potential vaccines for COVID-19 are in the later stages of phase III trials. If one or more are authorised for use, the NHS needs to be ready to start immediate vaccination.
Our plans for deployment of a COVID-19 vaccine build on the tried-and-tested rollout plans for influenza vaccine, which we deploy every autumn. Given the uncertainty over whether, and when, a vaccine may be approved, we are planning to be ready from any date from December with mass vaccination more likely in the New Year.
- Urgent preparing for general practice to contribute to a potential COVID-19 vaccination programme
- Urgent preparing for general practice to contribute to a potential COVID-19 vaccination programme: Annex A: Indicative Enhanced Service Specification: COVID-19 Vaccination Programme 2020/21
- Urgent preparing for general practice to contribute to a potential COVID-19 vaccination programme: Annex B: General practice site designation process
- Urgent preparing for general practice to contribute to a potential COVID-19 vaccination programme: Annex B COVID-19 Vaccination Programme 2020/21 General Practice Site Designation Process Form
- Supporting general practice – additional £150 million of funding from NHS England
Enabling Safe Certification of Deaths in the Community Service
Following a change in legislation (The Coronavirus Act 2020), the ‘Enabling Safe Certification of Deaths in the Community Service’ (ESCDCS) was established with the intention of increasing capacity to support rising demand to attend, verify and certify expected and reasonably foreseeable natural deaths in the community.
The ESCDC service will stand down with effect from 30th June 2020 and GM will be moving back to original arrangements.
- Deaths will continue to be monitored with a view to enact the service if the need arises.
- Monday to Friday 08:00-18:30 (in hours): Practices will deal with attendance, verification and certification of deaths for registered patients. ESCDC service will be available to offer advice and support practices.
- Monday to Friday 18:30 – 08:00 and weekends: Out Of Hours services will deal with deaths.
The ESCDC phone line will remain in place until Friday 10th July. Please contact 0161 763 8296 (08:00-16:30 Monday to Friday).
To find out more about the service, please see the frequently asked questions below:
- Frequently asked questions
- Primary Care GP Support Pack
- Family letter
- Cremation 4 form (replacing Form B)
- Verification form
- Adastra web access: Basic user / start up guide
- Adastra web access: Webview guide – how to access and use the portal
- Adastra web access: special patient notes in depth guide – how to input and select the correct template dedicated for the use of the Enabling Safe Certification of Deaths in the Community Service.
Dementia
- GP Dementia COVID-19 Guidance this is a quick guide to coping with the complex problems that people living with dementia and their families are facing during COVID-19. It was developed by Dr Helen Martin (GP and Dementia United’s Clinical Lead) in conjunction with Dementia United. The focus is on dealing with challenging behaviour and supporting people at home, planning ahead and acute management including recognising atypical presentations and managing delirium.
- The Greater Manchester (GM) Community Delirium Toolkit this toolkit has the objective of providing clinicians working in the community with the resources to assess, diagnose, manage and treat delirium.
Greater Manchester Guidance and Information for Community Pharmacies
- Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee COVID Hub: PSNC’s COVID-19 hub contains links to information, guidance and resources on the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic for community pharmacy contractors and their teams – https://psnc.org.uk/the-healthcare-landscape/covid19
- Greater Manchester Local Pharmacy Committee (GMLPC): Greater Manchester LPC is the statutory organisation representing community pharmacists in our area – https://psnc.org.uk/greater-manchester-lpc
- Bolton Local Pharmacy Committee (LPC): Bolton LPC is the statutory organisation representing community pharmacists in our area – https://psnc.org.uk/bolton-lpc
- GM Healthcare Academy: Training, education, resources and support for community pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and pharmacy teams in the Greater Manchester area – https://www.gmhealthcareacademy.org.uk
- HEE Pharmacist COVID guidance: Guidance for students and trainees with their studies and next steps. Pharmacy materials to aid learning and upskilling via the e-Learning for Health coronavirus programme Workforce planning advice and support including facilitating the deployment of MPharm students wishing to support the pharmacy workforce. – https://www.hee.nhs.uk/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-covid-19-information-pharmacists-pharmacy-technicians
- GMHSCP Pharmacy COVID newsletter: Primary Care Pharmacy Newsletter COVID19 – Coronavirus Edition March 2020
- Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) standard operating procedure Greater Manchester guidance regarding the processes for making temporary changes to operations during NHS Commissioned hours (both core and supplementary hours)
- Medicines Delivery Service Advice: GM advice regarding use of MDS / compliance aids and https://psnc.org.uk/the-healthcare-landscape/covid19/covid-19-frequently-asked-questions
COVID-19 Primary Care bulletin
Dr Nikki Kanani and Ed Waller at NHS England and NHS Improvement are publishing a frequent bulletin for primary care covering all guidance and information published for general practice, pharmacy, dental and optical. Sign up to receive a copy straight to your inbox. Previous issues can be found here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/primary-care/other-resources/primary-care-bulletin/
COVID-19 Primary Care Knowledge Boost Podcasts
A special series of dedicated COVID-19 Primary Care Knowledge Boost Podcasts are currently available to support local primary care clinicians, with topics including Managing COVID-19 patients in general practice and shielding vulnerable patients. These podcasts can be found at https://primarycareknowledgeboost.podbean.com.
RCGP COVID-19 resources, guidance and FAQs
- The COVID-19 Resource Hub has been created by the RCGP to support GPs in understanding and managing this pandemic, with topics ranging from diagnosis to keeping your practice safe https://elearning.rcgp.org.uk/course/view.php?id=373
- Latest COVID-19 guidance provides key information from your Health Board and updates for GPs in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland https://www.rcgp.org.uk/covid-19/latest-covid-19-guidance-in-your-area.aspx
- The RCGP has a bank of COVID-19 frequently asked questions which has been created based on feedback and questions from RCGP members https://www.rcgp.org.uk/covid-19/covid-19-faqs.aspx