GP liaison service
Our GP Liaison is the Trust’s link between primary and secondary care. Our services for GPs and practice teams include:
- Providing you with information about Trust services and facilities
- Keeping you up to date with our plans through our GP Liaison e-newsletter, GP Connect
- Helping you work with our Trust to provide better patient care.
Contact us
Telephone
01708 504 211
Email
bhr-tr.gpchat@nhs.net
Follow us on Twitter: @gpchat_bhrut
Please note, our GP liaison service only responds to general queries from GPs and other primary care professionals.
Patient support and advice for GPs
If your patients or their families need advice or have concerns about their care at the Trust, our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) provide support and advice.
Axe the fax: NHS fax shutdown
In December 2018, the Department of Health banned the NHS from buying fax machines. They also ordered a complete phase-out by April 2020. This includes all NHS organisations such as hospitals, GP surgeries, and CCGs.
Fax machines are redundant technology. We now have access to a secure email service (NHSmail). Services within our trust can use a NHSmail mailbox to replace their fax machine. This is more secure and efficient. It does make us more reliant on email should there be a technical issue. NHSmail is a managed service and any issues incur minimal downtime.
The Department of Health now monitors NHS organisations on a quarterly basis until they are ‘fax free’.
The target is to have fax alternatives in place by 31 March 2020. We will support internal departments, CCGs, and GPs to provide fax alternative solutions. We will provide regular updates on operational changes and when internal departments become fax free.
Paper referrals
As of October 2018, the trust has no longer accepted paper referrals. Further information can be found in our website news story.
Sending secure information
Do you currently send us faxes? Then your organisation will need to a find an alternative way to send us secure information after 31 March 2020. You need to contact the department on how to send secure information.
We are able to use NHSmail to send encrypted information. This means we can send personal information to an email address that does not end “nhs.net” or “.gov.uk”.
You may not be able to, depending on your organisation.
Fax shut down progress
CCGs will receive a list of departments, existing fax numbers, and fax alternatives. Once a Trust department’s process is agreed and a mailbox created, we will monitor the inbox and inform the CCG.
Email downtime and resilience
We use NHSmail which is a national email service. Downtime does happen but this has rarely been for more than a couple of hours. If you are unable to send an email - unless otherwise indicated by a particular department - please send it via post.
BHRUT and NELFT diabetic foot multi-disciplinary team
A new diabetic foot multi-disciplinary team has been set up with dedicated clinics launched.
The team was set up as a joint collaboration between our Trust and NELFT as a response to local health needs and national guidance. The clinics are available at both Queen’s and King George Hospitals.
These clinical sessions are for patients experiencing limb-threatening and life-threatening diabetic foot problems. Open referral access to MDT is via a dedicated e-mail address (bhrut.sm-diabeticfootmdt@nhs.net).
We encourage GPs, Podiatrists, and Emergency Departments to use this pathway . This will reduce the emergency admissions rate for our diabetic patients. There will be access to dedicated Podiatrists, Vascular surgeons, Diabetologists, and orthopaedic input.
We expect that this new service will:
- Reduce diabetes-related lower limb and foot amputation rates
- Reduce average length of stay in hospital
- Reduce number of admissions via the Emergency Department
- Support ward rounds and provide in-reach to patients on wards
Please note: this is not a replacement to existing NELFT Community Podiatry Services. Referrals should continue in the usual way. Patients can be referred via choose and book system (ERS). GPs are advised to search under "podiatry" and select "at risk foot".