What’s New

Develop your career as a General Practice Nurse. The Community Nursing Specialist Practitioner – General Practice Nurse Apprenticeship, will support you as a registered nurse to gain advanced level skills and knowledge in Primary Care. This apprenticeship supports you in developing specialist skills, knowledge and behaviours required in the implementation of whole-person, place-based and integrated care enabling you to support people in the community in a range of Primary Care settings. Please see the flyer for further details, for more information please scan the QR code on the flyer or click here to express your interest by Friday 4th July 2025

As part of ongoing support to practices, there has been a training webinar session planned to support practices in the access and use of the intelligence Hub. Taking place on Tuesday 22nd July 2025, 1pm – 2.30, please Join the meeting here Meeting ID: 378 799 872 624 7 – Passcode: SR6jC24c.

As colleagues will be aware, the GMS (General Medical Services) 2017 contract and the HSCA (Health and Social Care Act) state that general practice is required both contractually and legally to provide their workforce data. This data collection is in the form of the National Workforce Reporting system (NWRS) which practices are expected to review monthly and amend accordingly. It is the only national collection of General Practice workforce data. This data plays a pivotal role in terms of understanding numbers of different direct patient care roles in GM and understanding how this benchmarks against other regions. The NWRS system also helps us understand our system position on areas such as turnover and how we may improve retention. The data supports workforce planning at both a national and local level and where we may need to improve workforce supply and entry into different roles. The completeness of the NWRS dataset also has a bearing on funding allocations for continuing professional development (CPD). It is therefore important that allocations are aligned to accurate workforce numbers. Further details around how the data provided is used can be found here. Last logged in and last modified dates from the NWRS are published in the GM Data Quality Dashboard each week, which we will be monitoring more routinely going forwards. We are asking all practices to review their NWRS workforce data submissions and where information has not been updated in the last 6 months, practices will be contacted separately. Whilst we recognise the current pressures practices are under, given the importance of this data, please can we ask that updating the information is made a priority. For any practice manager/nominated personnel that is not registered on the system, you can register here. The email address for NWRS support for PCN and practice staff is ssd.nationalservicedesk@nhs.net, where there is a dedicated helpdesk team. Please quote “NWRS” in the subject line. The next NWRS webinar will take place on Thursday 31^st July at 12.30pm. Please join the webinar via this – link – Meeting ID: 383 499 632 125 5 – Passcode: f52mX2gt 

There are still places available for this session, taking place on Tuesday 15th July 2025, 10am – 11.30 via MS Teams (delegates are encouraged to have their camera’s on for this session to fully participate). It is suitable for non-clinical staff members (e.g. Receptionists), who talk to patients face-to-face and on the telephone and is free of charge for all those who work in Stockport General Practices. Please see the flyer for further details, bookings should be made via Ticket Tailor, using this booking link: https://buytickets.at/nhsgreatermanchesterstockport/1740699. Enquiries can be made via gmicb-sto.learningdevelopment@nhs.net or 07393 798115.

Answer Cancer – Greater Manchester’s cancer screening engagement programme are holding free online training, including: Planning & Measuring Success; How to Run Brilliant Cancer Screening Awareness Sessions; NHS Cancer Screening Programme; Difficult Conversations – Talking about Cancer: The Why and How to do it; Workplace Wellbeing: Cancer and Cancer Screening. To register in advance and find out more, please click here and follow the relevant links. If you have any queries, please email actraining@uni.uk.net.

This H&SC Recruitment event will be taking place on Tuesday 8th July 2025, 10am – 1pm at Stockport Town Hall, Ballroom. Join them to discover various roles and career paths, further details are on the flyer, book your ticket via the QR code on the flyer or you are welcome to turn up on the day.

Stockport MBC are offering new dates for their popular Suicide Awareness for Professionals training, which is free of charge for anyone working or volunteering in Stockport.  The next available sessions are scheduled for Tuesday 8th July 2025, 9.30 – 12pm and Wednesday 30th July, 9.30 – 12pm both via zoom. The aim is to: Develop understanding & compassion; Tackle myths, stigma & barriers; Introduce concept that suicide is not inevitable – people can be helped & module includes the latest research & evidence; Help delegates understand how distress develops & how people can best be supported; Gives delegates the confidence & the skills practice of talking to someone in distress; Develop a compassionate approach for demanding & time-pressured environments; Equip the delegate with the knowledge of how to use www.StayingSafe.net.  No prior experience required. To book your place please complete the Suicide Awareness for Professionals Booking Form, for further details attached or email info@wellbeing@stockport.gov.uk. Important: Please only book a place if you can be sure to attend as this is a very popular course and is always oversubscribed, they are unable to run without majority of delegates attending. New training dates are offered monthly but for anyone not able to attend, yet still wanting to avail themselves of relevant online self-study options, please see a list of alternative training options here.

The Greater Manchester Training Hub will be running some Docman training, that will be available until the end of July 2025. The session will cover: Hints & Tips – Sign on, clinical system linkage, user guides and Home screen functionality; Docman Process: Efficient methods for using Docman in general practice including a step by step process following the path of a letter/document; Docman Filing: Guidance on managing scanned letters, EDTs and NHS Email, including who should file them and when; Docman Non-Clinical & Clinical Tasks: Best practices for assigning tasks within the system and understanding which documents require attention including Docman coding; Docman Back Office: Exploring changes to the back office and how they can improve workflow; Further Hints & Tips; Q&A. To book this training, please email laura.howson@oneadvanced.com, please ensure you state whether you are booking for a PCN or a Practice.

We have a small number of places available for some for sessions taking place on: Friday 11th July, 10am – 11.30, Kennedy Way, Unit 2, Green Lane SK4 2JT; Thursday 4th September, 10am – 11.30, Stockport Family Hub, Westmoreland Drive, Brinnington SK5 8HH; Tuesday 11th November, 2pm – 3.30, Heaton Moor Medical Centre, 32 Heaton Moor Road SK4 4NX. These sessions are suitable for the whole of general practice and aims to provide delegates with a level of resuscitation competence for both adults and paediatrics, please see the flyer for further details. The cost to attend this training is £18pp for delegates employed by a Stockport General Practice, for any other delegates the cost is £30pp. To book this training, an email must be sent to gmicb-sto.learningdevelopment@nhs.net from either the Practice Manager or Lead GP. By submitting this booking request, they are confirming that they have agreed a process to deduct any agreed costs from the next payment from NHS GM (please see the flyer for further booking information and the terms and conditions).

Two sessions have been arranged to take place on Wednesday 10th September 2025, 9am – 12pm and Tuesday 11th November 2025, 1pm – 4pm at the Northwest Heart Centre, UHSM, Southmoor Road, Wythenshawe M23 9LT. This course is suitable for Practice Nurses, Nurse Associates, Assistant Practitioners and Health Care Assistants looking for practical ECG training, the aim is to provide a short tutorial on how to do good quality 12 lead ECG and troubleshooting. Followed by hands on practical ECG clinic – further details can be found on the flyer. The cost to attend this training is £75pp for delegates employed by a Stockport General Practice. However, for a session to be viable we need 2 delegates to attend (total cost of £150). We will match up individuals wanting to attend so practices can just book one place. Please bear in mind, if we cannot fill the second place, we will contact you to re-arrange the training date or cancel your place (or alternatively give the opportunity to cover the full session of £150 to enable the session to run). The cost of this training will be deducted from the next practice payment for NHS GM (please see the flyer for further details)

To support changes to the childhood vaccination schedule from 1 July, a communications resource pack is now available here. This includes a range of supporting communications materials in one place to support healthcare professionals including signposting to training materials and patient leaflets as well as communications materials to support queries and conversations with patients. A webinar was hosted by UKHSA, with key spokespeople from UKHSA and NHSE on 11th June which was attended by thousands of GPs and ICB colleagues. If you missed the webinar, or want to refresh yourself with the information, the session was recorded and can be watched here . Resources:

• A set of guidance and resources have been produced to implement the changes to the routine childhood vaccination schedule and the selective hepatitis B programme.
• Childhood immunisation eligibility calculator to be downloaded (MS Excel file).
• Red book inserts for the changes to the routine childhood schedule 2025/2026 are free and can be ordered from sales@harlowsolutions.co.uk or by phone 0191 455 4286.
• PDF versions of the Red Book inserts and instructions on how to use them for the changes to the routine childhood schedule 2025/2026 –  p20a – Version 5.0 – Section 4 – immunisation (PHASE 1) – 1st July 2025; p21a – Version 5.0 – Section 4 – immunisation (PHASE 1) – July 2025; p22 – Version 5.0 – Section 4 – immunisation (PHASE 1) – 1st July 2025; 29-04-25_Page21_12 months; 356148 – Immunisation pages Instruction leaflet A4; p18 – Version 5.0 – Section 4 – immunisation (PHASE 1) – 1st July 2025; p20 – Version 5.0 – Section 4 – immunisation (PHASE 1) – 1st July 2025
• To order resources shown in the publications slide set, [please visit the health publications website. Register as a health care professional and you can order 500-1000 leaflets free of charge including delivery.

Greater Manchester Screening & Immunisation Team are facilitating several online workshops to support you through the planned changes taking effect from 1st July 2025. The workshops will be open to all healthcare professionals working in Greater Manchester, with a role in immunisation particularly those working in primary care, health visiting and community teams, including hospital and trust-based staff. To note, this is a workshop for health care colleagues only and not open to members of the public. It is hoped that, by attending one of these workshops, you will gain further detail on the changes with a chance to ask questions. There is no need to join all sessions as the core content of the workshop will be repeated at each session, with opportunity to ask questions at the end. Each question and answer will be added to a Q and A paper after each session, this will be available to view on FutureNHS platform (link below). A full list of available dates along with the link to join a meeting of your choice, can be found here. These are workshops for health care colleagues only and not open to members of the public. For those who are unable to join one of the sessions, the initial GM Workshop with Q&As will be recorded and uploaded via FutureNHS platform: IMMUNISATION WEBINARS – Greater Manchester Screening & Immunisation – FutureNHS Collaboration Platform. For any healthcare professional enquiries, please email england.gmsit@nhs.net and include ‘Webinar/Workshop Question’ within the subject text box.

The South East Region is hosting a national webinar to celebrate sustainability in the NHS during the Net Zero Week. Join them for a full-day virtual event showcasing how NHS colleagues across the country are making sustainability part of everyday healthcare. From decarbonising estates to embedding sustainability in clinical care, engaging staff, and applying for green funding – this is your chance to learn, share, and take action. With 30-minute sessions on Wednesday 30th July, from 8am to 6pm, you can jump in and out of the showcase when it works for you. Expect practical tips, inspiring case studies, and expert insights from across the country. Click here to find out more and reserve your space.

GPs and GP trainees can join Macmillan’s new Community of Practice (CoP) – a national network designed to support you in your role. The CoP provides: A safe, supportive space for GPs & trainees; Bi-monthly webinars via Microsoft Teams; Expert-led discussions on cancer and wider primary care issues; Peer learning, networking & resource sharing. A launch event will be held on Wednesday 16th July 2025, 1.30 – 2.30 via MS Teams. The guest speaker will be Professor Richard Simcock (Chief Medical Officer, Macmillan Cancer Support and Consultant Oncologist, Sussex NHS Trust). Topics to be discussed include: Macmillan’s new strategy; Hot topics in breast cancer for GPs; HRT and breast cancer in primary care. To join the CoP or to find out more, please see the flyer, or contact Catherine Williams, Macmillan Cancer Support – cawilliams@macmillan.org.uk.

This study evening will be held by GP Care Services on Wednesday 23rd July, 5.30 – 7.30pm at The Woodlands Suite, The Willows Dementia Hub, Fieldway, Rochdale OL16 4PX. Food will be served on arrival. The focus will be on ‘Introduction to Prolapse/Pessary Management: Understanding the basics’. Using case-based discussions Dr Marthi will apply the latest evidence to improve the awareness and understanding of prolapse/pessary management. This learning will improves women’s overall experience and improve their quality of life, whilst providing management in the practice and reducing the number of gynaecology referrals. Please see the poster, to register please complete the booking form and email to mandi.kelly@nhs.net. There are limited spaces available.

Dr Lisa Adams and Dr Sara MacDermott are back with the latest episode of the Primary Care Knowledge Boost podcast. They are joined by Paediatric Ear Nose and Throat Consultant, Dr Simone Schaefer for a focus on nasal obstruction in children. This is episode four on Paeditraic ENT. They use examples of typical cases to discuss an approach to assessing these patients, discussing who ENT might want to see urgently and differentials for these presentations. The podcast includes options for management in primary care and what ENT can do. Listen in to the podcast via the Podbean website.

The Greater Manchester Continuous Professional Development (CPD) training needs questionnaire, for 2025/26 closing date has been extended to Sunday 6th July, it can be accessed via this link. If you are eligible for CPD funding, we would be really grateful if you could please complete the questionnaire. The purpose of this form is to help identify any training needs that our Primary Care Nurse and AHPs workforce have. CPD funding is a nationally ring-fenced funding from NHSE, therefore only the following roles are eligible – GPNs, ACPs (excluding Pharmacists), Nurse Associates, ANPs, Paramedics, Physiotherapists.

If you haven’t already done so would you please take a couple of minutes to complete the GM Primary Care & Community Nursing Forum survey, via this link. As you are aware there has been a reduction in the nursing leadership capacity within NHS GM and they are looking at ways Practice and Community Nursing can be supported moving forward. Your input/feedback would be welcome to help understand what is needed and how this could be delivered.

Dr Baxter has arranged further sessions for the ‘Changes to the Infant/Child Schedule – An Update’, there will also be an opportunity to ask any questions. The sessions will be taking place each day next week (Mon 23^rd – Fri 27^th June), 1pm – 1.45 via zoom. There is no need to book a place to attend, please join using the following link on any day of your choice, it is the same link for all days – Changes to the Infant/Child Schedule – An Update – Meeting ID: 847 8385 8391/Passcode: 671777.

This session will be taking place on Thursday 10th July 2025, 12.45 – 3.45 via Zoom, for further details please see the flyer . This course is funded using national ring-fenced CPD funding from NHSE, therefore only the following roles are eligible to attend – GPNs, ACPs (excluding Pharmacists), Nurse Associates, ANPs, Paramedics, Physiotherapists. If you are interested in attending please send details including your name, job title, email, practice and a contact number to gmicb-sto.learningdevelopment@nhs.net and we will send details to the course organiser.

Taking place via zoom on Wednesday 24th September 2025, 12.30 – 1.30, this session is part of CPD training and is suitable for Primary Care AHPs and Nurses. Basic Sign Language (BSL) is a rich and expressive language that combines hand gestures, facial expressions and body movements. In this engaging 60-minute taster session you’ll gain insight into BSL and start developing basic signing skills, please see the flyer for further details. Bookings should be made via email to gmicb-sto.learningdevelopment@nhs.net. Enquiries can be made via gmicb-sto.learningdevelopment@nhs.net 07393 798115.

This session is taking place on Thursday 26th June 2025, 7pm – 8.30. Please click on this link –  Lipid Optimisation Educational Event to register and book onto the event. This educational event in collaboration with Novartis and will be chaired by Dr Viren Mehta welcoming guest presenters, Dr Hussain Contractor, Consultant Interventional Cardiologist, Wythenshawe Hospital and Dr Almas Agha from the Integrative Medical Practice. The planned topics to cover will be: Summary of lipid optimisation guidelines; When to refer to lipids clinics; NICE guidance/QOF targets; When to consider Inclisaran and evidence based re effectiveness, adverse events etc.; The proposal & plane re the Viaduct project and what practices need to do now (and any learning from other areas that have done this already); Q&A session to discuss. Please note this education event is in collaboration with Novartis and is not endorsed or quality assured by NHS GM (Stockport). We are circulating it for information only as this may be of interest.

The next meeting will be taking place on Tuesday 15th July 2025, 6.30pm – 8.30pm at Heaton Moor Medical Centre, 32 Heaton Moor Road SK4 4NX, the topic will be “Acne Update – Top Tips in Managing Acne”. Please see the agenda for further details, if you would like to attend, please email Nicola.Schofield@Dermal.co.uk. Please note the educational content of this module is sponsored by Dermal Laboratories Ltd and is not endorsed or quality assured by NHS GM (Stockport). We are circulating it for information only as this may be of interest to some practices/individuals.

The next cohort of the PED course will be commencing in October 2025, there a three residential modules held at the Castle Green Hotel in Kendal lasting three days, plus three study days held via zoom (for further details including dates please click here. Places are limited, if you wish to be considered for a place please complete the short application form and submit ahead of the deadline of 12 noon on Wednesday 25^th June 2025. If this link doesn’t work, please copy and paste this URL into your browser –  https://forms.office.com/e/JbUsZdWFjZ. For further details please see PED Further Information 2025 or email Dr Stephen Luckhurst – sluckhurst@uclan.ac.uk or Dr Jess Grundy – jess.grundy@nhs.net.

Live Well training sessions are scheduled to run in each Stockport Neighbourhood and are open to you and anybody that lives or works in your area. The sessions run for 3- hours and aim to bring together people from across all sectors for a fun and informative training programme, designed to connect you to the heart of the community! Each session will provide: Community Connection: It brings people together, connecting and sharing the strengths of your neighbourhood/community; Opportunities to Make a Difference: It shows us the opportunities that may pass us by, where we can make a difference; Practical Tools: It provides the tools that we can use in our work and our daily lives that are quick, easy and don’t add to the to-do list. What to Expect: Build relationships: Connect and form relationships across our collective workforce; Explore Strengths: Explore the strengths and assets of your neighbourhood; Gain knowledge: Acquire tools and knowledge to help you in your work; Make Every Contact Count: Gain understanding and confidence to Make Every Contact Count – a really quick, easy and useful way to support the people of Stockport. Who Should Attend: Perfect for anyone in the Private, Public or Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise sectors in your neighbourhood. Book your spot using this link – CLICK HERE FOR LIVE WELL DATES and please spread the word. More dates will be added, so please check back regularly as more sessions become available.

Stockport College run Functional Skills Qualifications classes in Maths and English, which are fully funded upto level 2, as part of their ‘Live Well, Learn Well’ Adult Learning courses (new for September 2025). The next courses start in September 2025 and they are running assessment and enrolment sessions over the summer at the College Campuses on: Tuesday 24th June, 4pm – 8pm; Tuesday 26th August, 11am – 3pm; Thursday 28th August, 11am – 3pm; Thursday 11th September, 4pm -7pm. For more information please see the flyer  or contact Stockport College at community@tscg.ac.uk or call 0161 886 7047.

Taking place on Wednesday 9th July, 12.30 – 2pm at Heaton Moor Medical Centre, 32 Heaton Moor Road SK4 4NX (lunch will be provided), this forum is open to ant Registered Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Trainee Nurse Practitioners, Nurse Associates and Healthcare Support Workers employed in a General Practice environment. We would especially like to welcome Advanced Nurse Practitioners working in General Practice and HCAs who have not had the opportunity to benefit from the Stockport General Practice Nurses forum before. The aim is to keep our nursing workforce updated with current information and also provide an opportunity to network and share best practice. The forum will cover: GMMMG Asthma Guidelines Update (including – SMART and AIR – What inhalers are licensed and a Asthma Q&A); Update on the Stockport Smoking Service and resources that are available for anyone living in Stockport or registered with a Stockport GP. The presentations will be around 45 minutes – 1 hour in duration. There will also be a 30-minute open door for any Stockport updates, discussion and networking. The forum is free of charge for those working in Stockport General Practice, it will be kindly sponsored by Eli Lilly & Co Ltd.  Please see the flyer for further details. Bookings can be made via Ticket Tailor, using this link – https://buytickets.at/nhsgreatermanchesterstockport/1725632.

This 3-day palliative care face-to-face training programme taking place on Wednesday’s 20th August, 27th August and 3rd September (all 3 day’s must be attended) in Little Hulton, is aimed at Health and Social Care staff who want to enhance their knowledge and skills in palliative and end-of-life care. There is a cost of £210pp to attend (this is for all 3 days). Please see the agenda for further details, if you are interested in attending please email education@sah.org.uk.

Recruiting has now started to the latest cohort of Student Nursing Associate (SNA) Programme for the Spring 2025 intake, with the University of Salford and the University of Greater Manchester. The SNA (previously know as the Trainee Nursing Associate) is a support role in England that bridges the gap between healthcare support workers and registered nurses to deliver hands-on, person centred care as part of the nursing team. What funding is available?: For each SNA, employers will be eligible for a total funding sum of £8,323 over two years; PCNS have the option to utilise ARRS funding to cover the SNA salary. For further details please see the Launch Letter and Principles or email GMTH@GMFeds.co.uk.

The British Menopause Society (BMS) have developed a series of short videos covering some of the key topics in menopause care by leading specialists in their field. The videos can be accessed via this link – BMS TV – British Menopause Society.