351 - NHS Primary Care Bulletin - 7 August 2025

This article summarises the NHS England Primary Care Bulletin for 7 August 2025, the weekly email update for teams in general practice, dentistry, community pharmacy, and optometry.

This week’s updates highlight significant developments across various sectors, including the publication of dental contract variations, guidance for community dental services, and record-breaking GP appointment figures. The bulletin also addresses ongoing health inequalities affecting LGBT+ individuals and promotes maternal vaccination against RSV.

Primary care updates

First review to tackle LGBT+ health inequalities

The NHS has launched its first ever review to tackle health inequalities experienced by LGBT+ people. This initiative aims to improve access to mental health care, cancer screenings, and primary care services for LGBT+ individuals. The review will investigate barriers to healthcare access and the impact of these inequalities on patient safety and health outcomes. Further details on submitting evidence to the review are available.

NHS England encourages pregnant women to protect their ‘winter babies’ against RSV

NHS England urges eligible pregnant women to discuss the RSV vaccine with their maternity service from 28 weeks of pregnancy. This vaccination is crucial as RSV is a leading cause of infant mortality and hospitalisation. Over two million RSV vaccinations have been administered since the rollout began, reflecting the efforts of GP and maternity services, among others.

Changes to online patient feedback in England

Following the closure of the NHS.UK patient feedback service in June 2025, patients are now directed to Care Opinion, an independent platform for sharing feedback about local services. This change aims to provide a more effective means for patients to voice their experiences.

General practice updates

New assessment tool for modern general practice

A new assessment tool for modern general practice has been developed to aid practices in evaluating their care navigation and triage processes. This tool, tested across 540 practices, supports practices in identifying strengths and areas needing improvement. Additionally, there is an updated practical guide available to further assist in this process.

New national guidance published on birth notification for unassisted births

NHS England has issued new guidance for notifying births that occur without the presence of a registered healthcare professional. This guidance details the process for notifying the Child Health Information Service via email and includes a plain English factsheet for families.

Millions more GP appointments delivered in record year

Recent figures indicate that general practice has provided over 7 million more appointments this year compared to the previous year, totalling a record 380 million appointments. Notably, June 2025 saw a record of 31.4 million appointments, representing a 31.9% increase from pre-pandemic levels. More details can be found in the report here.

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) online service for submitting SR1 forms launched

GPs and senior specialist nurses can now submit SR1 forms online to assist patients in claiming benefits under the Special Rules for End of Life. This streamlined process is designed to expedite access to financial support for patients nearing the end of life.

Dentistry updates

Dental contract variations published

NHS England has published contract variations that allow Integrated Care Boards to rebase dental contracts in cases of persistent under-performance. These changes aim to enhance the delivery of dental contracts and ensure funding is effectively utilised for patient care. Further details can be found in the Dental Policy Book.

Community Dental Service guidance for waiting list data collection

NHS England has communicated with community dental service contract holders regarding updates to waiting list data collection, following findings from the Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT) report. The data collection period will open on 29 August 2025. A webinar will also be hosted for contractors to aid in this process.

Third series of Transforming Primary Care podcast concludes

The Transforming Primary Care podcast series has concluded, focusing on dental care delivery improvements. The series aimed to enhance patient access to services while reducing the workload on primary care teams. A survey linked to this series is available for feedback.

Upcoming webinars and events

• 13 August; 20 August; 27 August: Automatic patient registration available in NHS profile manager webinars

• Various dates: National cardiac webinar series

• Various dates: RCN general practice nursing forum webinars

Catch up on recent webinars

Recent national webinars' slides and recordings are available:

• General Practice webinars

• Primary Care Network webinars

• Recovering Access to Primary Care webinars

Content in this article is drawn from the NHS England Primary Care Bulletin. Patient.info edits and formats the updates to provide a clear, accessible archive for professionals. View the original email here.