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NHS England provides detailed guidance for GPs on how to re-introduce face to face appointments 
Following last week’s announcement that GP practices must restore face to face appointments to patients who want them, NHS England has published guidance on how to do it safely, given the ongoing risk from coronavirus. 

The guidance covers all aspects of general practice including infection prevention and control, protecting staff from potential COVID-19 infection especially those at increased risk, and prioritisation of services.

Importantly, it provides very clear details about patients’ access to general practice. It says: “All GP practices must ensure they are offering a blended approach of both face to face and remote appointments, so both are always available to patients according to what is clinically appropriate.”

It also says, of the choice between in-person or remote appointments: “Patients’ input into this choice should be sought and practices should respect preferences for face to face or remote care unless there are good clinical reasons to the contrary, for example the presence of COVID symptoms.”
Read the guidance (PDF)
Patients Association in the media
We regularly provide comment to the media on topical issues that affect patients, and over the last week we have particularly been approached about in-person GP appointments, although journalists approached us about several other items as well.

The Mail on Sunday claimed victory for its Let Us See Our GPs Face To Face campaign last weekend, following NHS England instructing general practices to restore in person consultations. The paper quoted our Chief Executive Rachel Power reflecting on our survey’s findings. Its sister website, MailOnline also quoted Rachel: “Remote appointments, which in truth are mostly by phone rather than new online systems, should remain as an option for those who want them. But face-to-face appointments with GPs must be restored as the default option.”

The Daily Telegraph also quoted us in its story about in-person appointments, as did The Daily Express.

Broadcast media have also been keen to hear our views on the issue, and our Chair, Lucy Watson, appeared on BBC Wales Live on Wednesday evening. Lucy is a regular contributor to local radio across the country, and this week also spoke on BBC Radio London, BBC Radio Humberside and BBC Radio Kent about GP appointments.

On other topics, The Independent came to us for comment on two stories: £160m funding for the test sites looking into cutting waiting lists and job losses in the test and trace service, while The Guardian asked for our views on the NHS's surgery backlog. 
Vaccine passports for overseas travel
A small number of countries are currently allowing entry to people who have had a full course of COVID-19 vaccination – for the vaccines currently used in the UK, that means two doses.

People in England who have had a full course of the COVID-19 vaccine can prove their vaccination status for international travel either by using the NHS.uk website or the NHS app. Note this is the general NHS app, not the NHS’s COVID-19 app.If you do not have a smart phone or cannot access the online services, and you have had two vaccines, you can request a letter from the NHS by calling 119. 

However, it’s important to note that this proof is only for use for international travel, and it can take up to a week for the NHS to check and verify your identity in order to use the service. 

While some countries will accept proof of vaccination, many others have different requirements, including a negative COVID test.
Read more
Call for patient advocates to join Patient Safety Congress
The Patient Safety Congress is looking for patient advocates to share their insights and experiences at this year’s meeting. 

The organisers are inviting patients with experiences in the list below who would be willing to speak at the congress to get in touch. 

In particular, they are looking for patients with experience of:
•    Maternity and neonatal care
•    Patient and family involvement in incident investigations
•    Diversity and equality in the workforce and its impact on patient care 
•    The use of technology in patient care
•    Co-production between patients and organisations
•    Learning from patient feedback and complaints
•    Patient deterioration 
•    Sexual abuse and human rights breaches in mental health wards
•    Care home safety
•    Medication errors 
•    Patient self-management using technology
•    The benefits of using technology in your care
•    Human factors approaches 
•    Building trust after harm.
 
To be considered your experiences and/or work should be aligned to the themes and topics in the Congress programme.  You should also be able to share your experiences and offer constructive insights that are relevant to the event programme and beneficial to the 1,000 attendees. 

If you wish to be considered as a speaker, please contact Shayna Jadeja at Shayna.jadeja@wilmingonthealthcare.com.

Photo by HSJ events.
Opportunity to provide feedback about the Patients Association Nutrition Checklist 
In 2018 we launched a checklist to help adult patients and staff/volunteers working in health and social care to identify the potential risk of undernutrition in adults.
 
Now, we’d like feedback from people who have either used our Nutrition Checklist, or have been concerned about being underweight, or losing weight unintentionally, to see how and in what way the checklist has been useful. Your feedback will help us consider whether there are ways to refresh or improve it.
 
If you would like to give feedback via a virtual focus group or a short survey,  please let us know by contacting our project manager, Gloria, via her email gloria.clark@patients-association.org.uk. 
Get involved with the General Osteopathic Council
The General Osteopathic Council is offering two opportunities to get involved in its work. 

It is looking for people, including patients and other members of the public, with an interest in equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), to help inform its approach.  It has produced a draft EDI Framework  which outlines the actions it will be taking over the next 18 months.  

The Council is seeking patients’ views on this, and will be hosting online focus groups on 8 June, at  2-3.15pm and 6-7.15pm. Alternatively, you can take part in a one-to-one telephone interview at an agreed time. As a thank-you, participants in the focus group or phone interviews will be offered £25. If you would like to take part, email Stacey Towle, stowle@osteopathy.org.uk, and state a preferred time if you would like to take part in a focus group. You will be asked to have read the draft framework before the call or focus group.

The Council is also seeking osteopathic patients to join its Patient Involvement Forum and to take part in a range of further upcoming events, focus groups, surveys, working groups and consultations. If you have relevant experience, you can see the website for details of how to join the forum.
Find out more
Still open for your opinions
Our shared decision-making survey is an important part of our ongoing work to empower and enable patients to have a greater say in decisions about their care and treatment. It asks you a few questions about the role you play in your own health, and how you feel about this. 
Take the survey
Seeking participants for a virtual patient advisory group on tackling antibiotic resistance 
Antibiotics play a crucial role in treating infections. Antimicrobial resistance (or antibiotic resistance) occurs when a microorganism (bacteria, virus, fungi, parasite) no longer responds to an antibiotic. These ‘superbugs’ make infections harder to treat, which can increase the risk of the infection/disease spreading, severe illness and death.
 
The rising rates of antibiotic resistant ‘superbugs’ is of great concern for everyone, especially in patients whose care has been affected by infection. Patients can play a key role in safeguarding against antibiotic resistance by actively engaging and participating in their care and to be stewards of appropriate use of antibiotics.
 
Pfizer will be hosting a Patient Advisory Group to learn more about the experiences and insights of patients who have had to deal with severe infections due to antibiotic resistance, with the goal of elevating the patient voice in the fight against ‘superbugs’ and the rising challenge of antibiotic resistance. Pfizer has engaged the Patients Association to help convene and co-chair the Patient Advisory Group.
 
The Patient Advisory Group will help Pfizer to:
• Understand patient perspectives regarding antibiotic resistance and identify meaningful initiatives to involve patients in safeguarding the appropriate use of antibiotics
• Empower patients to see themselves as owners of their medical history and partners in determining the best treatment plans for them
• Raise awareness about antibiotic resistance among patients and communities
• Shape its future work to address the rising rates of antibiotic resistance
 
Pfizer is seeking patients who meet the following criteria:
• Adult UK residents only
• Experience with bacterial infections* that have required recurrent and/or prolonged courses of intravenous antibiotics in a hospital setting only (e.g., hospital medical or surgical ward, ambulatory care, clinic environments).
 
*bacterial infections, such as (but not limited to) urine infection, chest infections, pneumonia, skin infections, etc.
 
The Patient Advisory Group will be convened in early June for a 3 hour virtual meeting. Pfizer will reimburse participants £81 per hour. If you meet these criteria and would like to be considered for the Patient Advisory Group, please contact Sharrie McIntosh, sharrie.mcintosh@patients-association.org.uk.
From the helpline
We took a call from Geraldine*, who had experienced an adverse reaction after being given her first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine in April, and needed to be hospitalised. She was not given any advice about her future options for vaccination by the hospital, which told her to speak to her GP; however, she has been unable to secure a GP appointment, being told by the receptionist that there are none available.

A couple of days ago, Geraldine received a letter inviting her for her second dose of the vaccine. She was unsure whether it would be safe to take it, and called our helpline. We advised her to try calling the GP surgery again, and ask to speak with the practice manager if she still can’t obtain an appointment. We also gave her details of who to contact in NHS England if her GP practice continues not to be any help, and recommended the NHS 111 service as an alternative source of clinical advice about the vaccine if needed.

* Name changed for privacy. 

To share your experiences with our helpline team, call 0800 3457115 between 9.30am and 5pm on weekdays or email helpline@patients-association.org.uk. See our website for more ways to get in touch. 
What our team is reading this week
UK launch implementation plan for genomic healthcare system
Contaminated blood inquiry: Matt Hancock to give evidence
PIP implant victims 'elated' by compensation win
UK hospitals accused of burying dozens of patient safety reports
Health inequalities in patient safety

About Us

Our purpose is to ensure that everybody can access and benefit from the health and care they need to live well, by ensuring that services are designed and delivered through equal partnership with patients.

Our strategic focus for 2021-25 is patient partnership in the design and delivery of health and care services.

We are a registered charity raising all our own funds. If you'd like to support our work for all patients and make a difference, please donate or consider making a regular donation. Thank you.    
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Registered address:  P Block, Northwick Park Hospital, The North West Hospitals NHS Trust, Watford Road, Harrow, Middlesex, HA1 3YJ