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RCGP produces post-pandemic guide for prioritising long-term condition reviews

RCGP produces post-pandemic guide for prioritising long-term condition reviews

RCGP has published a post-pandemic guide for which long-term condition reviews GPs should be prioritising during the Covid pandemic recovery.

Data shows that nearly two million fewer people with hypertension were recorded as being treated to target and there was a drop of more than a third in patients with diabetes having all eight recommended care processes, the RCGP said.

The RCGP expected the figures to improve over the next year, including the proportion of patients with severe mental illness who have not had a physical health check, as GPs return to business as usual.

But there was an opportunity to look at how practices can ensure those most at need of review due to their long-term condition are seen first over the next six months, they added.

The recommendations include identifying those patients who have not had a review in the past 12 months but who also have signs that their conditions may not be well controlled or may be more at risk.

For hypertension this would include patients whose last recorded BP was more than 160mmHg systolic and/or 100mmHg diastolic or more than 140/90mmHg if they also have co-morbidities.

In asthma and COPD, practices may which to look at those patients not reviewed for a year who also have been prescribed three or more SABA or two or more courses of steroids.

The RCGP said the guidelines, which have been produced with input from NHS England, lay out ‘suggested’ actions recognising that in many cases annual patient reviews were not possible during the pandemic.

‘This document contains examples only and in no way suggests these are the only conditions that are important. Local systems will need to determine priorities themselves, based on their own population.

‘The aim is to ensure, where possible and safe to do so, that those who need care most and are at highest risk are seen first, rather than default to standard arrangements such as birthdays to determine when patients are called for review across the year,’ it said.

It includes links to new UCLPartners search tools for EMIS and SystmOne to help practices identify patients with conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, asthma, COPD and severe mental illness who have not been reviewed in the last 12 months.


          

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READERS' COMMENTS [1]

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Patrufini Duffy 13 June, 2022 4:03 pm

Wow. Thought they’d issue a post-pandemic wellbeing and surviving a big faecal storm pamphlet first. Still waiting for the zero Tolerance poster by Professors. I’d like a policy on vertical integration soon, and how to converse with American managers. Made in Wolverhampton.