HEE extends online genomics tool to advanced nurse practitioners in general practice

Health Education England (HEE) has announced the extension of an online tool, which helps clinicians make genomics decisions for patients, to advanced nurse practitioners.

HEE said the GeNotes tool, which provides educational information which can be accessed during patient consultations along with links to bite-sized further learning, has already been tested by oncology and paediatrics staff, receiving a 90% usability score so far and ‘high praise from clinicians’.

It has now invited advanced nurse practitioners,practice pharmacists, GPs, and physician associates in primary care to try out the tool, working through a patient scenario, and give their feedback via an online survey. The results will be used to improve the final project, it added.

Related Article: Nursing in a ‘strong position’ to help prevention agenda, says deputy CNO

The Genomics Education Program has also announced that completing the survey can be counted as free CPD around genetic scenarios.

GeNotes has been developed by HEE’s Genomics Education Programme in collaboration with clinical experts across the NHS.

Dr Jude Hayward, primary care adviser to HEE’s Genomics Education Programme, said that GeNotes will be ‘a vital resource for primary care’.

She added: ‘As genomic testing continues to be embedded within clinical care, particularly in rare disease and cancer, our primary care colleagues need quick access to concise, focused information about referral routes and clinical management.’

Related Article: Care leaders demand government action to achieve fair pay agreement

‘In developing GeNotes, we have fine-tuned the resources to offer just the information a busy clinician needs at the point of patient care. Our user research is an important component to help us make further improvements before we roll out the service more widely across primary care.’

Pharmacogenomics testing, which uses a patient’s genetic profile to analyse how they will respond to a certain drug, is already used for a small number of medicines in the UK, and is used across the NHS for cancer and rare and infectious diseases.

In April, a report by the British Pharmacological Society and Royal College of Physicians called for genomic testing to be offered more widely across the NHS.

Related Article: Sign up to Nursing in Practice’s free virtual cardiology event 

It said that there was evidence that a patient’s genetic profile can account for a varied response to many commonly prescribed medications, including painkillers, beta-blockers, and anti-depressants.

A version of this article first appeared in our sister publication, The Pharmacist