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Primary care bulletin

10 June 2026

Welcome to this week's primary care bulletin, covering the eight north west London boroughs:

Contents:

- an introductory letter from the James Murray MP, the new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care 

- message from the new NHS England National Medical Director, Professor Frankie Swords

- industrial action - communications pack for general practice

- supporting people living with diabetes

- andrology GP request form update (Central and West London, Hammersmith & Fulham, Ealing and Hounslow)

- UK Health Security Agency Ebola outbreak guidance

- Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital now accepting routine orthopaedic referrals

- RM Partners: Tobacco awareness campaign – staff survey

- reminder of transvaginal ultrasound in urgent suspected cancer endometrial pathway.

Education and training:

- NHS England webinar series: Early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer – recognising red flags with confidence

- housing and health round table on damp and mould

- smarter insights, better care, population risk segmentation gains momentum

- 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 24 June 2026. The deadline for submissions is 1pm on Friday 19 June 2026 due to operational reasons.

An introductory letter from the James Murray MP, the new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

Last month James Murray MP was appointed as the new Secretary of State. He has written a letter (PDF) to NHS and social care colleagues, reflecting on the progress in improving waiting times and earlier diagnosis, while recognising the contribution of colleagues. It highlights the importance of compassionate care, support for the workforce, and a continued focus on innovation, technology and future system improvements.

Message from the new NHS England National Medical Director, Professor Frankie Swords

Professor Frankie Swords has stepped into her new role as National Medical Director at NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care, describing it as a privilege and thanking colleagues for their warm welcome. Read more in her email (PDF) to NHS staff.

Supporting people living with diabetes

Diabetes Awareness Week is a chance to focus on how we can prevent diabetes where possible, and support people to live well with the condition. One campaign in north west London is sending targeted emails to over 67,000 residents with diabetes to encourage them to keep their blood pressure under control. It invites people to complete a free blood pressure check, take a quiz, and get tips on how to improve their blood pressure. Last time they ran a similar campaign, over 4,500 people who hadn't had their recommended blood pressure check in the previous year, got it checked within a month of being contacted. 

Messages for patients:

• your blood pressure check is an essential part of your annual diabetes review. If you're due a check, contact your GP practice to book an appointment
• find a pharmacy that offers free blood pressure checks
• Diabetes UK are sharing materials challenging the stigma people with diabetes can face, to help patients and professionals talk about diabetes in a compassionate way
• get tips at Be Healthier | Know Diabetes and Blood Pressure UK.
  

Industrial action - communications pack for general practice

The British Medical Association recently announced that resident doctors intend to take industrial action, as part of a dispute with Government on working terms and conditions. The industrial action is set to take place from 7am on Monday 15 June to 7am on Friday 19 June 2025. The industrial action may have an impact on the capacity of practices. West and North London Integrated Care Board has produced a toolkit to support practices with communicating to patients about how to access NHS services during the strike. The toolkit (World document) includes:

• practice website message
• telephone message 
• social media posts 
• frequently asked questions.

Andrology GP Request Form update (Central and West London, Hammersmith & Fulham, Ealing and Hounslow)

North West London Pathology (NWLP) has issued an update to the andrology GP Request Form for Central and West London, Hammersmith & Fulham, Ealing and Hounslow GPs, effective from 1 June 2026, with a grace period until 31 July 2026. While NWLP is not the pathology provider for Hounslow, patients are seen at Hammersmith Hospital, so this change applies. 

To maintain version control and ensure consistent processing of referrals, the form is now a controlled document. The authorised version is a fillable PDF.Practices should save and share the PDF, discard previous versions, and use only the approved form for all andrology requests going forward.

A letter (PDF) contains further details. Please download the form (PDF).

UK Health Security Agency Ebola outbreak guidance

An urgent public health message advises GPs and healthcare providers to remain alert to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. Clinicians should consider Ebola in patients with fever and relevant travel history within 21 days, follow national risk assessment guidance, and prioritise isolation and infection prevention measures. Suspected cases must be managed using established pathways and reported urgently to the UK Health Security Agency. Find out more on their website.

RM Partners: Tobacco awareness campaign – staff survey

RM Partners is launching a new tobacco-related cancer campaign across north-west and south-west London, aimed at raising awareness, supporting behaviour change, and strengthening support for patients who use tobacco products.

Patient-facing staff are invited to complete a short survey to help us understand current practice and inform the campaign’s development. The survey takes just a few minutes to complete and closes on 30 June 2026.

Complete the survey on Google Forms.

Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital now accepting routine orthopaedic referrals

The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH) is now accepting routine elective orthopaedic referrals from practices across west and north London. As a specialist elective provider, RNOH is supporting delivery of high volume, low complexity care to improve access to planned services and reduce waiting times.GPs can refer appropriate patients via the NHS e-Referral Service across a range of pathways, including hip and knee, spine, and selected foot, ankle, shoulder and elbow services. 

RNOH is also planning a GP webinar and lunch event to provide further information on referral pathways and criteria. Further details will be shared shortly. Find out in a letter (PDF) from the Trust.

Reminder of transvaginal ultrasound in urgent suspected cancer endometrial pathway

Please ensure that all referrals to the urgent suspected cancer gynaecology endometrial pathway include the transvaginal ultrasound (TVUS) report at the time of referral submission, except in the following circumstances: 

• women assessed as high risk in line with British Menopause Society (BMS) guidance 
• women not on HRT Referrals submitted without the TVUS report (where applicable) may result in delays to triage and onward patient management. 

Thank you for your support in helping us process referrals safely and efficiently.

Education and training

NHS England webinar series: Early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer – recognising red flags with confidence

Learn from specialists on pancreatic cancer during a free webinar and Q&A, hosted by GatewayC – the leading earlier cancer diagnosis resource for primary care. This webinar will take place on Wednesday 10 June 2026, 12.30 – 1.15pm. If you can't make it, you can watch it later on the GatewayC website. The webinar will cover:

• patterns of vague symptoms that may indicate pancreatic cancer
• helpful primary care investigations
• the significance of family history.

You’ll hear from Dr Andrew Millar, Consultant Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist, who will also discuss pathways for suspected pancreatic cancer and the NHS Case Finding Pilot, followed by a live Q&A.This session is for GPs and primary care professionals. 

Register through the organiser's website. 

Smarter insights, better care, population risk segmentation gains momentum

Strong progress continues, with more practices now receiving Whole Systems Integrated Care (WSIC) powered uploads directly into their clinical systems. These insights are providing practices with a joined up population health view, helping identify higher and rising risk patients early, target care more effectively and improve outcomes without adding extra workload for practices. Aligned with 26/27 Access specifications, the project supports delivery using actionable insights at the point of care.

Are you interested? If so, join us on Teams at the next community of practice webinar on Thursday 11 June 2026, 1 - 2pm to hear from practices already live and learn how to get started. Contact the Digital First Team to sign up. 

Housing and health round table on damp and mould

Join a cross-sector conversation on housing and health. Residents living with damp and mould often face more than just poor housing conditions. They can experience frustration and a system that can feel difficult to navigate. It doesn't have to be this way. Imperial College Health Partners, as part of the North West London Networked Data Lab, is convening a round table to bring together voices from across the system to design a more joined-up approach. As people who deliver health services to patients affected by damp and mould in the home, your perspectives are key to shaping better support. Participants will:

• build a shared understanding of the problem
• identify where people are getting stuck
• co-design a more accessible pathway to support The aim is simple: to ensure there is ‘no wrong door’ for people seeking help.

Interested in shaping this work? The round table will take place on 16 July 2026 in North West London. Submit an expression of interest via Office Forms by 13 June 2026. 

Pan-London Education Session: Models for delivering STOMP – lessons from South East London

On behalf of the South East London STOMP Clinic Team, we invite you to a pan-London education session on models for delivering STOMP in primary care on Wednesday 24 June 2026, 12.30 - 1.30pm.

The session is designed for primary care teams and those interested in deprescribing psychotropics for people with a learning disability.

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. A Q&A will follow. Who should attend: Primary care teams and those interested in deprescribing psychotropics for people with a learning disability. 

You can register via Teams Events. We encourage you to share this invite with relevant colleagues. The session will be recorded for those unable to attend.