From Monday, 10th February, parents and guardians will be able to submit requests for children under 16 via the new Under 16s Rapid Health Form, making access to care more convenient.

• The form asks five free-text questions to provide key details about the child’s health concern.
• Every request is manually triaged by a GP, ensuring appropriate prioritisation.
• An appointment is not booked at the time of submission – the practice will review the request and contact the patient, parent, or guardian on the same day.

This update is part of our ongoing commitment to improving patient access and streamlining care.

FDiabetes Week is a week to make some noise, raise awareness and shout about the things that matter to people with diabetes, shining a light on what it’s like to live with day in, day out. In Birmingham and Solihull, one of the available programmes to refer your patients to is Oviva Diabetes Structured Education Programme (DSE).

Oviva DSE is a 100% remote, 12-week, digital behaviour-change programme that offers the following benefits to patients:

• On average 4.3kg weight loss
• Improvement in HbA1c 
• Potential for diabetes remission

1. Referrals can come from Primary Care; the referral form is embedded on your clinical system.  Remember to tell your patients to expect contact from Oviva via email.
2. Alternatively, patients can self-refer, form found on our website (they will need date of diagnosis and HbA1c to complete this).

Referrals generated to this programme of patients within 9 months of diagnosis contribute to QOF diabetes care processes.

Further Information about Oviva’s Diabetes Structured Education Programme can be found here.