Summary
A message of support from Chair of Greater Manchester Primary Care Provider Board.
A message from GMPCB Chair, Luvjit Kandula, has been circulated to primary care providers following the recent tragic events in Southport and subsequent riots.
The message provides practical information and guidance, as well as where to go for support if you are struggling.
The full message reads:
Dear all,
It is with sadness and dismay at recent tragic events in our country that I am in a position of having to write to you today.
You will have no doubt seen the distressing scenes reported on the news and via social media of riots taking place following the horrific attack in Southport.
In addition to viewing this unfolding scenario in many parts of the country, primary care colleagues are often direct witnesses to traumatic incidents as they happen, and I wanted to take this opportunity to share my sincere concern if you or your family feel unsafe or anxious about safety.
Amanda Pritchard, NHS Chief Executive, recently issued a statement thanking primary care colleagues for their hard work and dedication to patients during this time. You can access national support resources via this link.
As Chair of the Greater Manchester Primary Care Provider Board, I would like to echo those sentiments and remind you to take care. There is help available if you are struggling and would like some support.
The PCB website’s health and wellbeing hub has a list of resources that you may find helpful. This poster provides an overview of what’s available, and the GM Resilience Hub can also provide support at this time.
If any incidents of abuse or violence occur, please follow your usual reporting and escalation methods.
In addition, you may wish to review staff awareness of your business continuity arrangements and contingency plans around:
- Practice/premises lockdown policies – if directly affected by protests nearby
- Lone working and visiting – consider which colleagues can work from home
- Duress and personal attack – consider safe travel to and from work
- Staff wellbeing and support
- Risk assessments in relation to premises and home visits
- Escalation to civic unrest procedures via locality teams – including clarity of mechanisms to close as appropriate with no breach to contracts
Please be assured that we are working closely with NHS GM and wider stakeholders to continue to monitor the situation and raise concerns on behalf of primary care providers. Hopefully, you will have received the letter from NHS GM sent to all providers earlier this week.
Finally, as an employer it is important to consider the following areas of increased focus during this time:
- Contractual in terms of working practice. Staff may request a temporary change of hours to cover increased child or family support, working from home or a hybrid pattern for a short period of time, special leave requests
- Conduct of any staff who have participated in protests where there has been violence and/or using social media to post or share any discriminatory comments or incite aggression
If you require any HR support or would like to talk through any concerns you have about conduct issues, please contact Lynn Marsland, the PCB HR lead, on lynn.marsland1@nhs.net. If you have contractual-related related queries, please contact your lead commissioner.
Helpful guidance for employers has been issued by CIPD and Hill Dickinson on these matters.
Please stay safe and don’t hesitate to get in touch should you need further support.
Kind regards,
Luvjit Kandula, Chair of Greater Manchester Primary Care Provider Board
