Hypertension Case Finding Service
https://cpe.org.uk/national-pharmacy-services/advanced-services/hypertension-case-finding-service/
Local Update
Local recording process and GP Referrals
We now have the majority of pharmacies in the Sefton area that have signed up to deliver the Hypertension case finding service. Community Pharmacy Sefton are providing an update around some of the recent developments that the LPC has been working on to support our contractors to deliver the service.
Recording Consultations – PharmOutcomes Template available
NHSE&I have commissioned a PharmOutcomes template for pharmacies within the North West Region to record their consultations.
- The template can be used to record Case finding BP checks and also GP referrals for clinic checks or ABPM.
- If the GP practice is linked on PharmOutcomes a notification will be sent to the GP practice when the consultation is saved. This avoids the pharmacy from having to collate the data.
GP referrals – Please see the latest service specification
Who can GPs refer?
GP referral – Inclusion Criteria: The GP practice can choose to refer any criteria of patient, although we have provided suggestions below.
- Patients can be undiagnosed or already receiving treatment for hypertension.
- For example:
- Adults specified by a general practice (clinic and ambulatory blood pressure checks)
- To include Pill check, HRT checks, QOF – all indicators that require BP reading
If the patient already has a diagnosis of hypertension and the reading is high or very high the patient is to be referred back into the GP practice – see timescales in the referral pathway. There is no requirement to carry out ABPM monitoring because the patient already has a diagnosis.
GP referral – Exclusion criteria
- Patients with a diagnosis of AF
- People who are unable to give consent to participate
How will GP practices Refer to community pharmacies?
- Using the Patient Access connect button on EMIS – soon to be Local Solutions button, this is the preferred method as it provides a robust audit trail,
- Via NHSmail,
- Verbally
Timescales for completing referrals
- Whilst there are no specific timescales for completion of a referral from a GP practice within the service specification, we recommend that the patient is contacted and booked in within 2 weeks.
- Have local discussions with GP practices around capacity for BP and ABPM checks and completion timescales. Ensure the GP practice is aware of how many ABPM machines you have and your maximum weekly capacity to accept referrals.
- Do not automatically reject a referral because the regular pharmacist isn’t in on the day it is received. If the regular pharmacist is on annual leave – consider contacting the patient to book them in for the consultation when they will be back in the pharmacy.