NHSE&I Guidance: Patient Consultations

NHSE&I have developed a range of resources to help clinicians during patient consultations. This guidance has been co-designed with clinicians and patients, and informed by a review of existing guidance and research evidence. Click the links below to view the resources.

Choosing how to consult – Full guide
Choosing how to consult – Quick guide

Dementia Toolkit: Appropriate prescribing of antipsychotic medication

The toolkit was developed by London Clinical Networks and Yorkshire and Humber Clinical Networks, with input from a range of stakeholders including the Royal College of General Practitioners and NHS England’s Dementia policy team, and Medicines Safety Improvement programme. The toolkit aims to support appropriate prescribing and deprescribing of antipsychotic medication.

The resource has been developed to aid good practice and to help reduce variation in prescribing across England. It complements guidance available at a regional level, and provides guidance and information to address:

• uses, risks and alternatives to antipsychotic medication
• risk reduction in antipsychotic prescribing
• support for local systems to deliver best practice in antipsychotic prescribing and de-prescribing where appropriate

Click here to view the toolkit

Self-care

• The Self Care Forum publishes factsheets that help patients with a wide range of conditions including back pain, eczema and migraine. View the full list and download factsheets.
• The NHS website (www.nhs.uk) also has excellent information that you can download for patients via this A-Z list of conditions.
• Managing your infection: step-by-step guide. PSNC has produced this guide to help pharmacies advise patients on self-care for infections.

Pharmacy service information sheets

These care factsheets may be useful. You can download and print them for patients.

• Back Pain
• Eczema
• Heartburn and indigestion
• Fever in Children
• Constipation
• Headache
• Cough
• Acne
• Sprains and strains
• Sore Throat
• Otitis Media (Middle ear infection)
• Common Cold
• Sinusitis
• Chicken Pox

Providing personalised care

Pharmacies may find these resources on providing personalised care helpful. They have been produced by the Royal College of General Practitioners RCGP).

Videos

• Personalised care for people with long-term conditions
• Training videos on social prescribing and link workers
• Collaborative care and support planning

Toolkits & guidance

• Toolkit with guidance on: social prescribing, health literacy, shared decision-making, health coaching, personal health budgets, the consultation, evidence
• Collaborative care and support planning
• Commissioning principles for collaborative care and support planning

Network  

The RCGP PCC Network of Champions (online and in-person) brings together GPs, primary care colleagues and people with lived experience who share an enthusiasm for person-centred approaches to health and well-being. The network aims to promote person-centred care approaches in members’ own localities, feed into national pieces of work, represent the RCGP regionally and nationally for PCC among other activities.

MSI

There are more than 230 million women around the world who want access to contraception but can’t get it. And over 25 million women each year who have to make the agonising decision to resort to unsafe abortion.

MSI specialise in abortion treatments, advice and support for women considering their pregnancy options and have a number of services available;

• Patients do not need a GP referral to access our treatment: Patients can call us directly on 0345 300 8090. Our telephone line is open 24/7 and is free to use. Patients can call our telephone line for clinical advice, support and information about the choices available to them, we also have interpreters available.
• We are currently offering a telemedicine service for early medical abortions: the Government recently issued temporary approval of home use for both stages of early medical abortion. Our patients will now be screened via telephone and, if they are eligible (i.e. no risks are identified), we will prescribe medication for home use. The patient will have 24/7 access to our free telephone line, where they can request specialist nurse advice where needed. Any at-risk patient with safeguarding needs will continue to be seen face-to-face in clinic with a nurse or midwife.  If you would like some more information on our telemedicine service you can take a look at our webpage. https://www.mariestopes.org.uk/abortion-services/online-medical-abortion/
• Patients registered at your practice can access treatment at any of our clinics across the UK. A full list of our clinic locations can be found here: https://www.mariestopes.org.uk/find-us/

Resources

• MSI Choices Poster
• Abortion Care Leaflet
• Self-referral pad

Other useful leaflets / posters

Spice: Information and how to deal with an overdose – this two-sided document includes a picture guide to help people recognise signs of overdose and what action to take (Dec 2017)

The C Word: How we react to cancer today – pharmacies may find this Macmillan publication helpful in understanding and support patients/customers with cancer

Group A Streptococcal (GAS) infections – poster for injecting drug users (Feb 2017)

Safeguarding: guidance & signposting

Ask for ANI