This message from the primary care team clarifies the requirements of the audit documents which form part of your Annual Contract Review for 2018-2019.
The audits will cover the period 01.04.2017 – 31.03.2018.
Recognising that practices have come into some enhanced services incrementally, practices will only have to complete these new audits from the period in which they commenced the new service.
The Anti Coagulation Audit is based on the new service which commenced in January 2017.
The Care Homes Audit is part of the service specification which commenced in April 2017.
If you were not providing either during the dates indicated, then please use the old audit templates to report back to the Health Board.
In respect of diabetes, this will be based on the National Diabetes Audit. Practices are required to participate in this audit, reflect on the findings within the practice. Practices can access their practice level data via Audit Plus and should provide it to the Health Board if requested.
If you have not already done so, can you please ensure these are submitted by 31st December 2018.
Please do not hesitate to contact a member of the GMS contracting team with any queries.
Dear Practice,
We are pleased to attach the final Service Support Schedule for the provision of Data Protection Officer (DPO) for your perusal.
You will find all the relevant information regarding the intended delivery of the service including; the service model, key functions and standard features, level of support you can expect, with anticipated timescales for developing the service and the projected charges.
We intend for the subscription based service to be launched on 1st December 2018. At this point we will be offering a basic service provision whilst we recruit additional staff resources.
Therefore, there will be NO service charge imposed until 1st April 2019, with the first quarterly payment due on 30th June 2019. The service will be charged at a rate of £0.0965 ‘per patient’ and will be based on the most current quarter capitation reports at that time. It has been agreed that a cap of £1,500 will apply to the annual charge.
To subscribe to the Support Service, please complete and return the two attached forms: one requires signing to confirm your agreement for the provision of the service and the second is to authorise NHS Wales Shared Service Partnership (NWSSP) to deduct the appropriate service charge on a quarterly basis.
For the service to proceed NWIS require a minimum number of Practices to subscribe on a national basis, to enable it to be financially viable. Therefore, we would be most grateful if you can return both forms; as detailed on each, to us by the 21st November. This will enable us to confirm the formal commencement on the 1st December.
If you have any further questions that might arise from the attached then please make contact via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Kind Regards,
Darren Lloyd
Head of Information Governance
DPO NWIS & Velindre NHS Trust
MSc Healthcare Management
NHS Wales Informatics Service
4th Floor|Ty Glan y Afon|21 Cowbridge Rd East|Cardiff
Dear Colleagues,
In light of recent implementation of the General Data Protection Regulations, we thought it would be timely to send an update to reassure practices that the agreement previously agreed between GPC Wales and Shared Services Partnership (SSP) regarding remote access for their post payment verification work DOES NOT put a practice at risk of breaching their responsibilities under GDPR legislation.
The agreed process for remote monitoring via SSP is as follows:
- SSP will telephone the practice to discuss the planned timing of PPV to ensure this is mutually convenient and then email the practice to confirm the arrangements for the “remote" visit. This includes requesting that the practice complete a signed temporary access agreement - in this document, the practice will see that two post payment verification (PPV) officers sign the agreement which ensures that the PPV process goes ahead if one of the SSP officers was unexpectedly away and thus this ensures minimal disruption to practices preventing rescheduling of the activity.
- The practice then has to provide a password for access to the clinical system to the two designated PPV officers (their email address will be on the practice agreement). This password should be sent via Move-It facility electronically to facilitate a secure and audible email trail.
Feedback so far from practices who have undergone remote PPV have found it far more efficient and less disruptive to the running of the practice. SSP have also seen benefits in terms of more effective time management. Rest assured, in the event of any queries these will be raised with the practice in the normal way and practice given opportunity to address them.
Attached is the formal guidance that confirms that this process does not breach GDPR and this advice has been checked by both NWIS information governance leads and the information commissioners officers. Therefore, this should provide sufficient reassurance to practices.
If you require any further information then please do not hesitate to contact with Mr Scott Lavender (All Wales SSP PPV manager) on 01495 300 729 OR GPC Wales on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Warm Regards,
Charlotte
Link to a podcast from Cardiff Practice Manager's Conference, panel members featuring Dr Charlotte Jones - Chair of GPC Wales, discussing current issues affecting General Practice.