GPAS and Workforce

In response to the unprecedented pressure that General Practice currently faces, YORLMC has launched two new projects to support Practices.

GPAS

As part of YORLMC’s ongoing support for practices, in July 2022 YORLMC launched GPAS (General Practice Alert System). 

Developed by colleagues at Devon LMC, GPAS (General Practice Alert State) collects an amount of anonymised data from practices.  This anonymised data from individual practices is combined to indicate to the broader NHS system the pressure General Practice is under.

 Why does General Practice need GPAS? 

 
GPAS allows the pressures in General Practice to be presented in the clearest possible fashion. We all know the demands practices are under on a day-to-day basis – information from GPAS provides tangible evidence of this and is already being used in meetings with commissioners and secondary care. It allows us to present data in a similar format to that from hospitals, helping to demonstrate that pressures in secondary care are more than matched by challenges faced in general practice.

What does this mean for practices? 

Once a week YORLMC asks practices to provide three pieces of information. The data we collect is entirely anonymous and will be used to state the workload case for General Practice at system level. 

Devon LMC has been running the GPAS system for two years and the data collected is now an integral part of system dashboards, and it has changed system thinking.

YORLMC track activity per 1000 patients at Bradford & AWC and NY & York place level thus providing more evidence of pressures in General Practice. YORLMC believes that secondary care colleagues will have a much clearer picture of the challenges facing General Practice when figures presented as per 1000 patients.  As well as showing demand and capacity, we are also using the data in meetings with hospital colleagues to identify trends.

With the GPAS data to hand, we can make meaningful assessments on whether an increase in GP appointments predicts an increase in ED attendances. As we get more data, we will be able to have conversations about when and how to support general practice before the ED numbers rise.

Importantly this data remains entirely anonymous.

How do practices submit information? 

YORLMC’s Corporate Affairs Team (CAT) will distribute an email every Tuesday to Practice Managers inviting a member of the team with operational oversight to complete this survey. We ask that this is completed by 10:00am each Thursday so that the information can be included in the sitrep. YORLMC then distributes a weekly report each Thursday.  This report will be shared with all Practices and ICB primary care Place leads.

The more evidence given by practices, the greater the voice for General Practice.

Workforce Data

YORLMC is collating and tracking the numbers of doctors, nurses and non-clinical staff working in General Practice across the NY&Y and BD&C places. Combined with GPAS, this data is used to demonstrate the workforce challenges that exist in General Practice in discussions with commissioners and secondary care. 

For the latest data and infographics click here 

January 2023