Working with GPs

Working with General Practice

Community pharmacy teams need to work closely with colleagues in general practices in order to provide the best possible care for patients. Effective collaborative working is helped by GP and pharmacy teams understanding how their colleagues work on a daily basis.

The below guides aim to support GPs and community pharmacists to develop more effective working relationships and in turn, improve primary care services for patients.

In addition to these guides, the below PSNC briefing provides information for general practice teams on the changes to the community pharmacy contract in 2021/22, including the revised Pharmacy Quality Scheme and PSNC’s ‘Walk in my shoes’ toolkit contains advice for community pharmacy contractors and/or LPCs interested in setting up a programme to bring together community pharmacy and GP practice teams by helping each understand better the other’s role to improve their working relationship.

The ‘Walk in my shoes’ toolkit includes a number of annexes as well as a template PowerPoint presentation. Standalone versions of the documents included in the annexes and the PowerPoint presentation can be found below:

• Template letter for a GP practice from an individual contractor (e form)
• Template letter for a GP practice from an individual contractor (PDF)
• Template letter for an LMC from an LPC (e form)
• Template letter for an LMC from an LPC (PDF)
• GP practice/LMC briefing document (Word)
• ‘Walk in my Shoes’ presentation (PowerPoint)
• ‘Walk in my Shoes’ presentation (PDF)
• Confidentiality agreement for non contracted workers
• Community pharmacy visit – checklist for GP practice staff (Word)
• Community pharmacy visit – checklist for GP practice staff (PDF)
• GP practice visit – checklist for community pharmacy staff (Word)
• GP practice visit – checklist for community pharmacy staff (PDF)
• Reflective log for members of pharmacy staff/GP practice staff (Word)
• Reflective log for members of pharmacy staff/GP practice staff (PDF)
• Action plan for pharmacy/GP practice staff (Word)
• Action plan for pharmacy/GP practice staff (PDF)
• Outcomes of action plan for pharmacy/GP practice (Word)
• Outcomes of action plan for pharmacy/GP practice (PDF)
• #PSNCtalk video on working with GPs

Advanced Services

The following resources contain information for General Practice Teams on the range of Advanced Services that pharmacies provide.

• PSNC Advanced Services PowerPoint presentation for GPs and hospital colleagues (October 2021)
• PSNC Advanced Services PowerPoint presentation for GPs and hospital colleagues (October 2021) (PDF)
• PSNC Briefing 047/21: NHS Community Pharmacy Advanced Services – information for general practice teams (November 2021)

For information about referring patients to a GP practice, following the provision of one of the following Advanced Services click on the links below.

Repeat Dispensing/electronic Repeat Dispensing

Contractors should talk to their local GP practices about the requirement within the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) for pharmacies to highlight the benefits of electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD) to patients when appropriate.

NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) published Electronic Repeat Dispensing – Guidance in June 2015. This document clearly describes how eRD works and is aimed at Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and GP practice teams. Contractors may want to use the document in local discussions with GP practices about repeat dispensing/eRD.

The joint PSNC/NHS Employers/BMA GP Committee guidance for GP practices on repeat dispensing may also be helpful and PSNC has developed a repeat dispensing/eRD template letter which can be used by contractors to increase GP practice team’s awareness of repeat dispensing/eRD.

The following presentation may also be useful in discussions with GP practices in order to demonstrate the similarity of repeat prescribing and EPS repeat dispensing and the additional benefits associated with repeat dispensing:

Comparison of repeat dispensing and repeat prescribing (PowerPoint)

Comparison of repeat dispensing and repeat prescribing (PDF)

Finally, NHS Digital has developed a range of material to boost eRD usage which contractors might again want to highlight to GP practice teams:

• eRD webinars
• eRD learning module for pharmacy teams and GP practice staff; and
• eRD toolkit – This toolkit is suitable for pharmacy teams as well as GP practice staff. The toolkit includes a dispenser quick guide, full dispenser guide, presentation and patient text.

Clinical codes for GP practices

GP practices can use the following clinical codes to record patient consent for information sharing for the repeat dispensing/eRD service:

Patient consent given for repeat dispensing information transfer:

• CTV3 code: XaKRX
• V2 code: 9Nd3.
• SNOMED CT code: 416224003