IT issues affecting Bradford District and Craven GP practices

We are aware of the media reporting that Mounjaro (tirzepatide) weight loss treatment is available for prescribing by GPs from 23 June 2025. West Yorkshire ICB, like many other ICBs in England, have yet to announce how the rollout of Mounjaro is going to be managed in our area.

Because of this, we are unable to prescribe Mounjaro at this time, and we are yet to know the timeframe of when we will be able to commence this, or whether it will be provided by an alternative community service.

Mounjaro will only available to a very limited number of obese patients in the first year, based on strict NHS criteria

Eligibility will include having a BMI of 40 or more and been diagnosed with at least four serious weight-related health conditions:

• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol or fat levels in your blood
• Sleep apnoea (trouble breathing while sleeping)
• Heart disease
• Type 2 diabetes

Patients must also take part in a structured support programme (wraparound care) including healthy eating and physical activity.

Please do not contact the Practice with enquiries regarding Mounjaro.

Keep our phone lines free for those in medical need.

We will not be able to prescribe this medication to you for weight management until arrangements are in place. Eligible patients will be contacted directly by the practice or the NHS in due course.

Updated June 2025

The Institute of General Practice Management (IGPM) have launched a new campaign focusing on “The Call I Just Took”.

At Bowling Highfield Medical Practice we support this campaign to help raise awareness to be kind to all our Reception staff and the wider team.

Receptionists are not ‘just admin’ — they are patient advocates, navigating complex systems to get people the care they need. They are the gateway to the clinical team, and without them, there is no access. But constant abuse is pushing them to breaking point.

Burnout is rising, and we are losing skilled staff who can no longer absorb the emotional toll. This campaign is a call for compassion — because protecting our reception teams protects access to care.

Please watch the video above to see just a snapshot of what reception  teams deal with on a daily basis. Our team not only answer phone calls, there is a lot of “hidden” work which patients don’t get to see.

You don’t know what happened on the call they just took..

May 2025

Switchover of the Laboratory Information Management System at Leeds Teaching Hospitals

In the week commencing Monday 19 May, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is switching over its Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), which will have a short-term impact on some non-urgent results. Due to necessary prioritisation of urgent samples, GP practice samples may experience additional delays.

The LIMS is a piece of software that processes the pathology requests made by hospital staff and GPs. It translates requests into laboratory tests which our analysers and laboratory staff can then process. The LIMS is pivotal for booking samples into the laboratories, analysing samples, and reporting results to the systems that staff use.

Further details and a contact point for patients can be found on Leeds Teaching Hospitals website.

Updated 09 May 2025