GPs are increasingly being asked to monitor patients treated by private medical cannabis clinics, local leaders have warned.
Lancashire and Cumbria LMCs have been made aware of private medical cannabis clinics contacting practices asking them to provide medical record summaries and clinical letters, as well as monitoring of any treatment.
In a newsletter, the LMCs said that they received reports of staff from these clinics ‘becoming aggressive’ and reminded practices in the area that these services are not part of the core GP contract and can therefore be turned down.
The bulletin said: ‘We have also been informed that these clinics are becoming increasingly persistent in their emails and phone calls.
‘We would like to remind practices that this isn’t part of your core contract and any information that these clinics need can be obtained by the patient themselves to pass on, either through online access or as a SAR.
‘We would also advise practices not to engage with these clinics, particularly on the telephone if they are becoming aggressive.’
Patients in England can only access medical cannabis treatment on the NHS in cases of tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), multiple sclerosis, severe epilepsies known as Dravet and Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, and for adults experiencing nausea caused by chemotherapy.
And NICE has advised that while it is possible for a GP to continue prescribing legally, it is advised that all prescriptions will need to be initiated and signed by a specialist doctor.
Recently LMCs have told GP practices they can also decline patient requests for routine aftercare in the first two years after private bariatric surgery undertaken abroad.
Lancashire and Cumbria LMCs developed a template letter, which it said was agreed with the local ICB, for GPs to send to such patients advising them that their practice is not funded to provide this service.
Earlier this year, local GP leaders at the UK LMCs conference called for practices to be remunerated appropriately for requests from private healthcare or insurance providers relating to their patients.
And more than four in ten GPs have said their workload has increased as a result of people using more private healthcare.
? more training
Yes, but until no training, no funding, no ESCA- no service. After a couple of requests like that we created a bog- standard letter and I don’t even see them in my Docman anymore. All ends at Secretarial level- simples.
Thank NICE for creating this issue: less than a year after Cannabis prescribing was approved on a “Specialists only” basis NICE advised Share Care prescribing to “relieve the burden on tertiary care”. Begs the question how much GP input they sought.