NHSEI has published two new enhanced services, relating to long-Covid and weight management  – June 2021

Extract from GPC

Whilst the additional support for practices to help care for patients with long-Covid has some merit, it does not recognise the need for support for those in the general practice workforce who need access to occupational health services, or practices that need financial support to enable them to better help colleagues on prolonged sick leave. This must still be addressed if we are to reduce the loss of much needed members of our workforce.

The weight management enhanced service will present practices with additional work at a time when practices are already stretched to the limit. We also have concerns that this service specification is overly bureaucratic, further micromanages clinical consultations, is clinically flawed and demonstrates a lack of trust in GPs and their teams to do what is best for patients. Furthermore, it is not clear that local weight management services have the necessary capacity to respond to increased referrals. This could have been an opportunity for NHSE/I to demonstrate their commitment to be less directive and for government to take much more meaningful steps to address the underlying factors that lead to obesity, but they have failed to do that. You can read our press statement on this. GP online reported on our concerns about this enhanced service.