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Primary care bulletin
27 May 2026 |
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Welcome to this week's primary care bulletin, covering the eight north west London boroughs:
Contents:
- Tirzepatide / Mounjaro referrals: cohort one behavioural support - ophthalmology Service at Hillingdon Hospital - pathology updates (for practices in Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster and Hillingdon) - orthopaedic referral pathway changes – West Middlesex Hospital - Wolfson Fertility Centre – now accepting referrals - Ealing dental patients letter - Bladder Cancer Awareness Campaign 2026 - help to share the word - HPV self-sampling is now live across all West and North London practices - how to get started.
Education and training:
- ADHD webinar - Pan‑London Health Innovation Network (HIN) Community of Practice - Pan-London education session: Models for delivering STOMP – lessons from south east London.
If you have any submissions for this bulletin please complete this Google form. Any enquiries regarding the primary care bulletin should be sent to nclicb.communications@nhs.net with "primary care bulletin" contained within the subject line. The next bulletin will go out on Wednesday 10 June 2026. The deadline for submissions is 3pm on Monday 8 June 2026.
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Tirzepatide / Mounjaro referrals: Cohort one behavioural support
The formulary has been updated to support prescribing of tirzepatide in primary care, for patients who meet the NHS England defined eligibility criteria. GP practices are asked to refer eligible patients for behavioural support when prescribing tirzepatide, Mounjaro, for weight management.
Current NHS England access in primary care is phased and focused on Cohort 1 patients:
BMI ≥40 kg/m², adjusted for relevant ethnic groups, plus at least four of four comorbidities: type 2 diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, obstructive sleep apnoea and dyslipidaemia. Tirzepatide should not be viewed as a medicine-only intervention.
Patients must also be referred into structured behavioural support, covering nutrition, physical activity, self-care, motivation and longer-term behaviour change.
Please complete the referral form (Word document) and send it to Healthier You, including any accessibility, language or sensory impairment requirements. |
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Ophthalmology Service at Hillingdon Hospital
The ophthalmology service at Hillingdon Hospital has temporarily moved to Mount Vernon Hospital. When referring patients to the service, please continue to refer them via e-RS. Affected patients are being informed.
This change is part of our work to prepare the Hillingdon Hospital site to start building a new hospital. If you have any queries, please contact the ophthalmology team. Clinical queries can be contacted by phone on 01895 238 282 – ext. 52027 and are available Monday to Friday, 8.30am - 5pm. |
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Pathology updates (for practices in Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster and Hillingdon)
North West London Pathology is pleased to share that its Digital Morphology platform, Scopio, went live across haematology laboratories on Monday 18 May 2026, marking a significant milestone and bringing haematology services firmly into the digital era. A letter (PDF) contains further details.
From Thursday 4 June 2026, the service will be reporting updated reference ranges for serum folate and ferritin. Details of the new references can be found in a letter (PDF).
A further letter (PDF) has been issued by the service regarding delays in reporting Serum Erythropoietin results due to technical issues. |
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Orthopaedic referral pathway changes – West Middlesex Hospital
Please note that from Monday 25 May 2026, referral pathways for Orthopaedics at West Middlesex Hospital (RQM91) are changing.Orthopaedic referrals will move from directly bookable services (DBS) to referral assessment services (RAS), with the exception of foot and ankle, which will remain directly bookable.The new RAS services are: - RAS Orthopaedics – hip (West Middlesex Hospital, RQM91)
- RAS Orthopaedics – knee (West Middlesex Hospital, RQM91)
- RAS Orthopaedics – shoulder (West Middlesex Hospital, RQM91).
Important:Please continue to refer Foot and Ankle via the existing direct booking pathway.All hip, knee and shoulder referrals should be sent via the appropriate RAS service from the go-live date. |
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Wolfson Fertility Centre – now accepting referrals
Following the closure of the fertility service at Northwick Park Hospital, the Wolfson Fertility Centre would like to inform GP colleagues across north west London that they are now accepting new patient referrals.
Based at the Hammersmith Hospital site, the centre offers both NHS-funded and private fertility assessment and treatment pathways, ensuring patients can access appropriate care based on their individual circumstances and eligibility. A letter (PDF) explains more about the service. |
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Ealing dental patients letter
Following a historical infection prevention and control breach, which has been reviewed by NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency, we have sent duty of candour letters to patients who had treatment at the Western Avenue Dental Practice from 2016-2023. This letter and issue in no way relates to the current owner of the practice, who has helped us with this historical review.
We have discovered that, between 2013 and 2023, at the Western Avenue Dental Practice, under the previous owner, the correct infection prevention control procedures were not always fully undertaken. For example, in some cases handheld pieces of equipment were disinfected/wiped rather than put through the steriliser and some single use items were reused.
The level of risk is considered to be very low, and only for patients who had ‘invasive’ procedures such as fillings or root canal treatment. While we are clearly communicating to patients that the risk associated with the historical breach is very low, you may have patients request a BBV test, or they may wish to discuss further with you. You can find information on our website.
If any practice experiences an unusually high or unmanageable demand arising directly from this incident then provision has been made to provide support. If this applies to your practice, please contact nclicb.dentalqueries@nhs.net for further information and next steps. This is a dedicated email set up for this issue. Thank you for your support. |
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Bladder Cancer Awareness Campaign 2026 - help to share the word
In May 2026, RM Partners, in partnership with Action Bladder Cancer UK, launched a public campaign to raise awareness of bladder cancer signs and symptoms, redelivering the campaign from September 2025. It targets people over 50 from lower socio-economic groups and Black and South Asian communities, who are more likely to experience late-stage diagnosis and health inequalities.
The campaign runs across north west and south west London through out-of-home advertising, social media, online search engines and community pharmacy activity, which may increase practice demand.
It promotes earlier consultation to support early diagnosis, improve outcomes and reduce late-stage cancer, alongside key risk and symptom awareness messages.Practices are encouraged to share campaign materials, promote symptom awareness during consultations and help in other ways.
Find out more in a document (PDF). A toolkit (PDF) is available for download. |
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HPV self-sampling is now live across all West and North London practices - how to get started
In September 2025, NHS London became the first region in England to offer opportunistic HPV self-sampling in general practice. The region is pleased to confirm the further expansion of this opportunistic pathway to include all general practice settings across west and north London. This is a groundbreaking step forward in making screening more accessible and empowering for patients.
The launch pack (PDF) contains all the essential information required to launch this pathway and must be read to gain an understanding of the pathway and ensure governance, assurance and patient safety. This includes: - link for ordering consumables from CSL
- details and link to the primary care professional guidance
- information and link to the online HPV self-sampling training module for healthcare professionals
- a communications toolkit with links to patient resources
- instructions to access EMIS and SystmOne clinical protocols and templates.
Also attached is a helpful ‘top tips’ guide (PDF) for getting started.
Clinical system tools informationHPV SS template, alerts/protocols and searches are now available for all WNL ICB practices and are centrally published by the ICB via existing arrangements.
EMIS practices: A document (PDF) includes more information on: - how to find the searches
- how to deactivate any old EMIS tools you may have in your EMIS system
- HPV SS pop-up alert messages.
SystmOne practices: A document (PDF) contains information on how to access the template, alerts and searches.
EMIS and SystmOne practice queries: If you have any questions or need further assistance, please contact: Thank you for your support towards eliminating cervical cancer in London.
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ADHD and medication webinar
As part of Healthcare Central London’s adult ADHD service, the team will be providing a series of free webinars to support neurodiversity care. The first session will take place on Tuesday 2 June 2026, 12 - 12.45pm, and will be led by clinical lead, Dr Balu Pitchiah. It will cover: - the classes of ADHD drugs and how they work
- side effects to look out for and what can be mitigated
- how to combine ADHD drugs safely with other therapies
- supporting patients who cannot take or tolerate medicines.
Sign up via Teams Events. |
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Pan‑London Health Innovation Network Community of Practice
Join colleagues from across London for the second pan‑London Health Innovation Network Community of Practice, supporting the NHS England Patient Safety Collaborative programme on reducing harm from psychotropic medicines used for behaviours that challenge in people with a learning disability.
This safe, supportive space brings together system partners to share best practice, problem‑solve real‑world challenges, and surface common issues affecting people and services across London. The organisers will work through questions and challenges, including those raised in their first session. Register via Teams Events. |
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Pan-London education session: Models for delivering STOMP – lessons from south east London
The South East London STOMP Clinic Team is delivering a pan-London education session on models for delivering STOMP in primary care on Wednesday 24 June, 12:30–1:30pm.
In this session, the team will share their multidisciplinary clinic model, bringing together learning disability nurses, pharmacists and behaviour practitioners to review psychotropic prescribing and support non-pharmacological approaches.
You will hear how the service was implemented, alongside case studies illustrating holistic, team-based care and opportunities to apply similar approaches as part of a quality improvement programme. Q and A will follow. Who should attend: Primary care teams and those interested in deprescribing psychotropics for people with a learning disability. Register via Teams events. |
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