enable better use of GP practice appointments and resources and ensure patients can be seen by the right person, at the right time and in the right place
improve sharing of responsibility within practice teams and the wider primary care system, and
This resource forms one part of the Primary Care Communications Toolkit. This toolkit provides information and resources for NHS boards, HSCPS and professional bodies to support their communications about changes to Dental, GP Practice, Optometry and Community Pharmacy services in response to COVID-19.
The Care Navigation in General Practice: 10-Step Guide provides practical guidance on how to set up, or review, care navigation processes and pathways within general practice at pace and scale. It also contains links and references to related support materials developed by our national partners.
To support the implementation of this guide, we are offering an extensive package of practical support including:
virtual 1-hour awareness sessions
follow-on bespoke support delivered through group coaching workshops, and
This programme aims to support the development of staff and improvement of GP practice processes to deliver pharmacotherapy services as outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding 2: GMS Contract Implementation for Primary Care Improvement (2021). The Royal Pharmaceutical Society Scotland and British Medical Association’s joint statement supports that full delivery of pharmacotherapy services is essential to improving primary care for patients, GP practice staff and pharmacists.
Benefits
We are supporting general practice to:
improve patient access to repeat and long-term prescriptions
ensure medicines-related activity is dealt with by the right member of the practice team at the right time, safely and efficiently
reduce GP practice and pharmacy staff workload, and
allow GP's to spend more time with patients and focus their role on being expert medical generalists.
We are doing this by:
Working with practice teams and pharmacy staff across a range of NHS boards and HSCPs, we will develop practical guidance and resources to support set-up and management of acute and serial prescriptions.
Drawing on the learning and expertise within the Pharmacotherapy Collaborative we have now launched the Serial Prescription Toolkit. This resource provides primary care teams with a step-by-step guide to support the introduction of serial prescriptions.
To support implementation we will be providing standalone introductory webinars to explore how the Serial Prescription Toolkit can support practices. We will also be offering bespoke support at an HSCP or cluster level.
ACP is a person-centred, proactive approach to help people consider what is important to them and plan for their future care.
Benefits
We are supporting health and care services to:
have care planning conversations with people to help them to think ahead and express their goals and preferences for the future
improve coordination of care across care settings both in and out of hours, and
reduce inappropriate interventions, hospital admissions and repeated difficult conversations.
How can you access resources and support?
We are doing this by working with professionals from across health and social care, the third sector and people with lived experience, developing and updating online resources and signposting to relevant materials.
You can access resources to support individuals and those providing care to have ACP conversations on our Anticipatory Care Planning Toolkit.
We support primary care services to learn together.
The Primary Care Learning System aims to accelerate the sharing of learning and improvement work across primary care services and underpins all our activities. Through collaborative working, sharing good practice and providing training this programme aims to encourage continuous learning at all levels, in every primary care setting.
We are doing this through a range of engagement and learning opportunities:
capturing and sharing insights, case studies and evidence
producing guidance and implementation toolkits
facilitation of Improvement Learning Networks, and
practical QI and coaching support for GP Clusters from the Primary Care Quality Improvement Faculty (PCQIF).
How can you access resources and support?
Join us for our Primary Care Resilience Webinar series, where you will be able to connect with peers, take part in discussions on current topics and reflect on what this could mean for primary care and your practice. Topics for future webinars are based on your feedback.
We use evidence and local knowledge to inform the development of new models of care. Find out more about our work in:
Community Treatment and Care services - supporting health and social care partnerships (HSCPs) to plan, test and deliver community treatment and care services.
We host Improving Together interactive, which is a one-stop-shop library of resources for people working in primary care. There you can find case studies which capture the learning from improvement work happening in primary care.
Register for a 1-hour introductory webinar in October to find out more information about our Serial Prescription Toolkit and how to access further implementation support.
Click here ➡️ bit.ly/--WebinarSP#pharmaL1pic.twitter.com/rlqcm1YdXw
Transferring suitable patients to SRx ensures medicines-related activity is dealt with by the right member of the pharmacy team, at the right time, safely and efficiently.
As well as SRx being more convenient for patients, it can reduce unnecessary visits to the practice.
Our Serial Prescription Toolkit outlines the essential stages of setting up and implementing SRx in your practice. It signposts to a range of developed resources, examples, and QI tools to support implementation.
Access the toolkit here: ➡️ihub.scot/pharmacotherapy
