Frequently Asked Questions
These FAQs have been developed in preparation for the incoming NCL LTC LCS, in response to wide ranging queries from practices.
Please note that this page will be consistently updated in line with changes to the LTC LCS programme.
If you have questions or require additional support, we encourage you to contact your borough Business Change Facilitator or the generic mailbox at nclicb.ltctraining@nhs.net.
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NCL ICB and Training Hub hosted a Q&A session in September 2023. The resources and recording can be found below.
What will the payment look like?
Year 1 payments are all prospective:
Preparatory payment – single prospective payment, paid to practices, covering month 1 to month 6 (Year 1 only)
Block payment (includes case finding) – prospective, paid to practices, monthly from month 7 to month 12.
Weighting – prospective, paid to PCNs.
From year 2 onwards, 2 and 3 will continue, plus payment based on achievement of outcomes paid retrospectively.
If the new LCS begins in October 2023, what happens in April 2023 – September 2023?
For the duration of the preparatory period, existing locally commissioned services will continue. The preparatory period for the NCL LTC LCS will run in parallel, with linked payment alongside income protection for any existing LTC LCSs.
From October, the relevant existing LCSs will be decommissioned and replaced by the new LTC LCS.
Do you only get paid for those patients that are picked up as having an LTC rather than the work done in the case finding?
A block payment incorporates all the case finding and is not linked to the case finding outcomes. Baseline payments for the following year will increase if your practice then has more patients with LTCs identified.
In terms of the payment for case finding, do you get paid for the case finding specifically just looking back, I could only see it's they're low risk, medium risk, high risk and high-risk complex?
If we do the case finding work and the patient is not found to have something, do we get paid for that work or not?
Practices will get paid for the case finding activity within the block payment. Anybody who is then diagnosed goes into your cohort at the appropriate risk level. The next year they will be added to your cohort and they'll be part of your block payment.
Next year (Year 2), any individuals that you add to your cohort are added to the block payment, so it increases your denominator that your block payments are calculated from.
Will practices be required to provide their own phlebotomy service?
The ICB are aware of the constraints on phlebotomy and is working toward improving access. They recognise that some practices will need to send patients elsewhere to do their blood tests, and this is absolutely appropriate. However, practices will need to ensure all results are back before moving on to the next stages of the Model of Care.
How much time do we need to set aside for the Check and Test and discussion appointments?
This will vary within each practice depending on how the appointments have been set up. However, it is likely that the Check and Test appointment will require around 20-30 minutes to ensure enough time for all checks to be completed, and the discussion appointment will likely be at minimum 30 minutes to allow a high quality, personalised and patient centred conversation to take place.
Can a Health Care Assistant (HCA) do Check and Test?
Yes, absolutely, for most patients this is a good choice of clinician for this appointment.
Is it not helpful to have bloods done prior in order to calculate Q risk etc?
It could be - it is up to practices to decide how they wish to do this. QRISK can be calculated at Check and Test or as part of the review process.
How long on average is each checkpoint likely to take?
The Model has been funded based on a 30-minute average. A 30-minute appointment is not a mandatory requirement.
If we block off 35 30-minute appointments and the patient doesn't show up, are we wasting resources and also a lot of the face to face capacity?
This is a valid concern and GPIT is trying to make that process as straightforward as possible in terms of using the searches to help you find the right patients, and to know where they are. Roles that can help with this are Care Coordinators and Administrators to guide that process and the care planning aspects in terms of the length of appointment times.
What is different in the chart of register vs case finding the subset needing some reviews this year?
The register is for patients who have been coded with a long-term condition. The case finding is patients who may have a condition but need some intervention.
Has there been any work done on how much clinical time expected per patient population of how many appointments needed per week for LTC in order to meet targets?
This could quite easily be calculated using Month of Birth searches. The number of patients born in each month with an LTC will indicate how many patients should be invited.
How do you mitigate the time spent ticking all the boxes and clinical care. Also, some of the care planning has been started - can you put in retrospectively 'Check and Test appointment complete.'
The payments this year are block contract. This means that you can get used to the Model of Care for new patients for whom the process has not been started and use the new Model for patients that have not been reviewed yet if you choose to without any penalty for the practice. The aim going forwards is that at the Check and Test appointment, patients will have the Model of Care explained so that they are prepared to engage in the care planning appointment with their results.
From April 2024 there will be outcomes-based payments in addition to the block payments so more focus on the Model for all patients at that point will have financial implications. Funding allows 30-minutes for Check and Test appointments and for clinical discussion. If the Check and Test appointment is used well for data collection, this should hopefully free clinicians for good discussions away from box ticking.
What is the role of the MDT meeting?
Are we supposed to discuss all our LTC patients that we have seen during stage one at the MDT meeting?
The MDT Review is for high-risk/high risk + complex patients only and ensures that complex patients can benefit from holistic thinking about their needs ahead of a review appointment, e.g., patient may benefit from referrals to other organisations e.g., palliative care, advanced care planning, district nurses, dieticians, community diabetes teams, smoking cessation. This also helps prepare clinicians to discuss more complex care plans with patients.
If a patient is not high risk, when do we complete the review?
All patients should be offered a discussion appointment 2-4 weeks after the Check and Test. When to offer the review should be determined by what is in the care plan and the patient's needs.
How do we organise and implement the MDT, and how will we fit them around busy clinical schedules?
There is no prescribed schedule or recurrence for these meetings, and it is up to practices to determine how best to implement the MDTs. You may be able to include them in existing clinical meetings, or you may decide to organise something new. As the MDT is only for high-risk patients, the frequency of these meetings is likely to be dictated by the number of patients in the high-risk cohort.
Will patients see notes from the MDT in the results letter?
No. Notes from MDT Reviews will not be sent out in the results letter.
We have already done 2 LTC clinics. Because we didn’t use this new template does that mean they won’t count?
All payments this year are block contract so please proceed to review those patients who have not yet been reviewed to embed the process this year and use the process for all patients next year.
If a patient rejects a care plan - would you need to still do touch point 4?
We cannot force patients into the process but a review of any goal, even if not recorded in the care plan, would be good practice.
Are touch point 3 & 4 also desktop reviews?
No. These are reviews with the patient.
If reviews have been completed in Q1 & Q2, do we need to re-do reviews?
The Model does not ask you to repeat work that has already been done. Consider focusing in the last 6 months of this year on embedding the Model for patients who have not had a review.
What is after desktop review if no further appointment is needed, i.e., well controlled asthmatic/diabetic?
All patients should be offered a discussion appointment for care planning which could be on the telephone if there are no face-to-face requirements. This is an opportunity to discuss any patient concerns and promote good lifestyle and disease management.
Do the new care plan and review of the care plan take place at separate appointments? If so, how long is advised between each appointment? Is there a timescale this must be done within?
Yes. The initial care plan is sent to the patient with the results post the Stage 1 Check and Test appointment, then finalised at the stage 3 Discussion Appointment.
The review of the care plan happens at the Stage 4 Follow-Up Appointment. This is to support progress against goals - the timeframe should be set up depending on the needs of patient. This is no different for example, from seeing a hypertensive patient, agreeing a BP goal, up titrating medication and deciding a timeframe to review them. However, it may be about more lifestyle oriented goals for some patients.
What sort of time should we be allocating for each consultation?
The Model assumes 30-minute appointments.
How will this Model work with housebound patients?
Practices should follow the usual protocol and process that they would normally use for their housebound patients, for example, face to face visit to patient's home instead of at the practice.
See example scenarios below that may occur when considering the new MoC and dealing with housebound patients:
Stage 1 - taking bloods as part of the check and test appointment, HCA or Nurse may only be able to administer certain tests at the patient's home. So, in this instance they may have to arrange transport for the patient to be taken to the hospital for that part of the test.
Stage 3 - the discussion appointment, they could have a patient who is hard of hearing, therefore, they would require the use of a sign language interpreter to attend this appointment.
Alternatively, practices could explore working with their PCN to resolve the issues arising with stages of the model for those housebound patients.
How will this work in care homes?
Care Home patients will still be required to have this proactive and personalised approach. Care Homes already benefit from the PCN DES, GP Led Enhanced Care home and in Enfield, the CHAT team, so would suggest tweaking the current proactive model to make it more personalised.
More information on the Model of Care can be found here.
How will we manage workforce gaps and recruitment?
The ICB recognise that this is a challenge for many practices and would encourage practices and PCNs to work together to consider these issues. The ICB have provided a high-level description of the model of care, so it sits with the practice to best decide mobilisation and implementation. The ICB recognises that clinical time in general practice can be very limited, however they are investing significantly in practices with the hope that this increased funding will help recruit additional staff to support this work. We understand that recruitment is also a challenge at times, to manage this we recommend working with your PCN to see if you can split time between multiple practices.
Who will supervise the ARRs roles and this work?
The ARRS roles will be part of the practice/PCN and will continue to be the responsibility of the practice/PCN until the end of the PCN DES which is currently in 2024.
What if a surgery does not want to participate?
Practices will still be doing LTC reviews for patients due to requirements from QOF. The new LTC LCS has been designed to work alongside QOF requirements and add additional funding for LTC work. If a practice chooses not to sign up, the ICB will seek to work with that practice’s PCN to provide a solution in order to ensure equity of provision for all patients in scope.
How do you access the HealtheIntent home page?
https://nlhcr.analytics.eu.healtheintent.com/
How do I sign up to use the HealtheIntent Dashboard?
To sign up to use the HealtheIntent dashboards, please make a request to: nclicb.digitalhelpdesk@nhs.net. You will also need to be on your practice's register for PID access.
How do you access the HealtheIntent GP project dashboards?
For the GP Project Dashboard go to – https://nlhcr.analytics.eu.healtheintent.com/reports/100000787?project_id=843
For the GP Fed Project Dashboard go to – https://nlhcr.analytics.eu.healtheintent.com/reports/100000786?project_id=846
For the PH Analyst Project Dashboard (non-PID only) go to – https://nlhcr.analytics.eu.healtheintent.com/reports/100000788?project_id=849
How do you view the PID for multiple practices if you are for example, part of a QIST team?
If you would like to view PID for multiple practices as a QIST Team or other supporting role, you need to request access via the IT help desk: nclicb.digitalhelpdesk@nhs.net.
You will be sent a form to complete and need permission from each practice’s Caldecott Guardian to have PID access.
It is recommended that you complete the form at the same as time other users within your team that require similar access.
Are these data sets more accurate than what is offered on Ardens searches/dashboards?
The searches are all designed to the specs for each condition. HealtheIntent aim to mirror the GPIT EMIS searches.
There is overlap and both sets are aiming to help practices find the cohorts of patients with the likelihood to have that condition or who have not yet been coded, but there is other data that suggests they have the condition.
*Please note that there is a small percent of people that have opted out (about 0.5% across NCL).
Does non-PID data include NHS numbers?
No, non-PID views won't include NHS numbers.
Why would we use this instead of the searches in EMIS (which are easier to action directly in clinical system)?
The HealtheIntent Case Finding Dashboard enables you to see all the Case Finding required for any individual patient in one go. It is also useful for handling large numbers of patients in one go. The process is also faster than EMIS.
Do you think I should work on both HealtheIntent and EMIS Case Finding tools?
It may be easier to work on the HealtheIntent Case Finding list first, but there are a small number of people who will not show, as there is a small percent of people that have opted out (about 0.5% across NCL); the EMIS searches can be used to look for those patients.
More information on the HealtheIntent can be found here.
How will we know a patient's risk level?
All patient data has been risk stratified. Searches were run in February 2023 to stratify the NCL population to ensure practices have an estimate of funding. Searches will be run again in April 2023 to provide an up-to-date view and account for any end of year work and future cohort changes.
What is the feedback process if we discover issues with either the process or templates?
Please send any feedback on searches and templates to: nclicb.ncl.ltc.lcs@nhs.net.
Are all the letters and templates digitally uploaded into our clinical system or do they have to be uploaded manually?
All practices on Resource Publisher will have the letters and templates digitally uploaded onto their clinical systems.
Our PCN data seems to include historic practices. Who should we contact to update this?
Please email nclicb.digitalhelpdesk@nhs.net, who will pass this information to the right people.
When is all the NEL CUS enterprise search information going up?
The searches are published for all installed practices via NCL, CCG, Enterprise search, and report. Are all the letters and templates digitally uploaded into our clinical system or does it have to uploaded manually?
The letters should be digitally uploaded centrally.
Is there an invitation letter too?
Yes, the invitation letter is included within the EMIS LTC LCS folders.
Will the shingles/flu/pneumo vaccine only show if they are entitled to the vaccine?
Vaccination status is displayed for all patients.
Are the templates already live?
The Multimorbidity and MDT Review Templates are now available to all practices on Resource Publisher who have signed their Data Sharing Agreements and been activated.
Do the searches exclude patients who have had their reviews already e.g., based on the last LCS template? Or would we have to manually check who has an outstanding review?
The searches will show you where patients are in the Model of Care when you are using the new templates, but as this year has started halfway through, they may not link exactly to previous work.
We currently use the MoB system; will the searches easily reproduce patient lists in this format?
GPIT have now published the Month of Birth Searches. If you would like to know how to access the searches, please click here to view the guide.
For the first 6 months of the year, we have been completing the old LTC LCS, however the searches imply no LTC appointments have been completed. How do we identify patients who have already been seen so as to not duplicate work done?
The searches created for the LTC LCS contain specific codes selected for each type of appointment required.
Unfortunately for most boroughs these codes do not align with the codes currently in use. Due to the fact all boroughs use different codes, it is not possible to centrally remove all the people seen in Q1 and Q2 from your lists.
For the remainder of the year, you will need to review each patient prior to booking them in to see if they have had a recent appointment. Alternatively, you can create your own searches to update the coding for patients already seen.
We don't have resource publisher so how do we access the searches and templates?
All NCL practices are being moved to Resource Publisher and will be able to access the templates when their Data Sharing Agreements have been signed and actioned.
I can’t see the NCL ICB resource publisher folder on EMIS documents. Do I need to activate something?
All NCL practices on Resource Publisher whose Data Sharing Agreements have been signed and actioned should be able to see the searches and access the templates. Please contact GPIT if there are any issues: nclicb.ncl.ltc.lcs@nhs.net.
How will data be stored and used?
All records will be kept as required by the NHS Records Management Code of Practice. Identifiable data relating to patients will be used for direct care only, with the sole exception of matching patients with existing pseudonymised data from multiple services to produce correlation evidence.
Aggregate statistical data will be used for measurements of delivery and outcomes. MYCaW data will be extracted by NCL ICB and analysed to understand the impact of the service.
A sample of non-PID data will be shared with the owner of MYCaW (Meaningful Measures Ltd) to support ongoing research.
Practices should remind patients not to submit any PID in their free text responses.
The NCL GP IT team will download data and also check for and remove any free text PID that has been mistakenly included.