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14th June 2021

Monday Memo

Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS)

PQS Part 2 2020/21

Reminder: Deadline approaching for completion of the PQS Part 2 2020/21 work

16 Days Remaining

PQS 2021/22

Due to the extension of the PQS Part 2 2020/21 until 30th June 2021, the PQS 2021/22 will not start until July 2021 at the earliest. Negotiations on this are due to start shortly.

June 2021 deadline tracker available here

GP CPCS Update

The success of GP CPCS implementation is critical to integrated working across Primary Care, and if done effectively will build confidence within the system, and support commissioning of collaborative services in the future.

For a status update of all current PCNs, please see the GMLPC website.

GMLPC will be regularly updating pharmacies and general practice teams with any further information relating to GP CPCS and/or MAS. Please look out for these updates via newsletters and the website.

In the meantime all GP CPCS resources can be found here should you need to either complete further actions outlined in Annex F, or for general reference. If you have any further queries, please contact enquiries@gmlpc.org.uk

Action for contractors - Check NHS shared mailbox

NHSE&I, NHSBA & GMLPC regularly send important communications to your NHS Shared Mailbox.

Please ensure enough staff have access to your Mailbox and that it is checked at least once daily. You can also set up a forwarding function to receive these emails to a personal NHS account, further details of which can be found here.

PQS Part 2 Deadline

Contractors have until 30th June 2021 to complete outstanding elements of the scheme they declared as having met

Please Note - Not all elements of PQS will be extended until 30th June 2021.

Contractors will have until 30th June 2021 to complete any outstanding elements of the scheme they declared as having met for Domains 1, 2, and 3, and collate the evidence to demonstrate that they are compliant with the requirements.

Domain 1 – Infection Prevention & Control and Antimicrobial Stewardship
Domain 2 – Prevention
Domain 3 – Risk management

Domain 4 – Primary Care Network (PCN) – Prevention (Flu Vaccination Service) required engagement with the Pharmacy PCN Lead to confirm involvement in increasing the uptake of flu vaccines in the over 65s. Leads could then confirm to the PCN how community pharmacies in the PCN would collaborate to increase vaccine uptake during the data capture period between 1st September 2020 to 31st January 2021.

Engagement with the PCN needed to occur within the data capture period to be considered as collaboration towards a shared target. Therefore, this domain cannot be extended beyond this point, as activity should have already largely finished.

Domain 5 – Primary Care Network – Business continuity requires participation in a contractor discussion and for the Lead to collate the information to share with all contractors within the PCN, the PCN, the Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPC) and NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I).

Where this activity has not yet commenced or has started, but not concluded, NHSE&I have agreed that the collation of the evidence to demonstrate that contractors and Leads are compliant with the requirements can be extended until 30th June 2021 provided the contractor discussion has been undertaken before the end of the declaration period.

PQS Part 2 2020/21 Overview

Part 2 of the scheme formally commenced on the 1st October 2020. This second part also focuses on the response to, and the recovery from, the pandemic. As we settle towards a new normal where COVID-19 remains in circulation, the PQS has been developed to incentivise quality improvement in areas that support the COVID-19 response by including criteria that improve patient safety and outcomes.

The full details were first published in the September 2020 Drug Tariff, however to support early contractor engagement, PSNC published an early view of the requirements on 6^th August 2020. NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) shortly after published guidance on the Part 2 Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS) 2020/21.

The remainder of the £75m PQS annual budget (£56.25m plus any unclaimed funding from the £18.75m attributed to PQS Part 1) will be applied to this scheme.

Contractors will receive a PQS payment if they have demonstrable evidence of meeting one or more of the 5 domains (please note: contractors must meet all of the quality criteria in each domain to be eligible for a PQS payment in respect of that domain). The overall level of the PQS payment will depend on how many of the domains the pharmacy declares that it meets.

PQS Part 2 - FAQS

PSNC Additional FAQs

PSNC have released a final FAQ detailing some of the changes to the PQS agreed recently. We strongly recommend that you read this FAQ and ensure you meet all requirements. You can view it here

A summary of some of the key points is available here

Domain 5 - Additional FAQs

An email chain or WhatsApp exchange does not constitute a discussion for the purposes of this domain, nor does it allow for the intention.
A one-to-one discussion with the Pharmacy PCN Lead would only be appropriate if a contractor could not make the planned meeting and they were following up promptly after the event.
If a contractor discussion did not occure before the PQS Part 2 declaration on 1st March 2021, unfortunately you will not be able to claim for this domain.

Further information, including the latest FAQs is available here.

PQS Part 2 2020/21 - Weekly Breakdown

To support contractors participating in PQS 2020/21 part 2, the GMLPC created a PQS part 2 schedule, accompanied by weekly updates analysing the 5 domains. The schedule was designed to help contractors meet the PQS claim deadline, and allowed for a three - four week window for each criteria to be met.

If you missed any publications an archive of all GMLPC newsletters can be accessed here

The GMLPC also compiled guidance and resources for domains 1-5 of PQS part 2 2020/21. This resource can be accessed below, alternatively this resource is also available on the GMLPC website along with other useful information and resources here

PSNC's guide to PQS Part 2 2020/21 can be found here

GMLPC's Recap of the 5 Domains*

Domain 1 - Infection Prevention & Control and AMS

Domain 2 - Prevention

Domain 3 - Risk management

Domains 4 and 5 - PCN Domains

*Please ensure you check PSNC's FAQ's for the latest updates. additional FAQs

Further Guidance and Resources

Watch PSNC's Digital Guide to Part 2 PQS 2020/21

The guide aims to offer busy contractors and their teams an alternative way to ensure they are aware of what is available to support them in undertaking the scheme, and it complements the other information and guidance available in PSNC's PQS hub.

Watch the digital guide

Read NHSE&I Guidance on PQS Part 2 2020/21

NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) has published guidance on the Part 2 Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS) 2020/21. This guidance builds on the information on the PQS contained within the September Drug Tariff.

All pharmacy contractors who are planning to participate in and make a claim for the PQS are advised to read the guidance to ensure they fully understand all the requirements of the scheme.

Read the PQS Part 2 GMLPC Training Log

The GMLPC, in collaboration with Halton, St Helens and Knowsley LPC have prepared a summary to support you and your pharmacy team to complete the required training for PQS Part 2. Available here. We would encourage contractors and pharmacy teams to start planning to complete the training requirements early to manage the workload.

To support contractors the GMLPC have also produced a training tracker to help ensure all required staff complete all the necessary training for PQS Part 2. This resource is available here.

Part 2 PQS Contractor Bandings

GM Contractors can click here to see which band their pharmacy falls within. Using the ODS code of their pharmacy, contractors can view which banding they have been placed into. The bandings are based on the NHSBSA’s payment data for 2019/20. Any questions regarding the calculation of the bands can be sent to the NHSBSA Provider Assurance team at nhsbsa.pharmacysupport@nhs.net.

For further guidance click here.

Review PharmOutcomes PQS framework

As contractors and their teams complete each criterion, they can mark this on PharmOutcomes to track their progress. This can be accessed by logging into PharmOutcomes and selecting 'Assessments'. The framework is listed as 'Pharmacy Quality Scheme 2020/21 – Part 2'.

Additional PQS Part 2 Guidance on PSNC's PQS Hub

Guidance and resources have been published to support contractors, LPCs and Primary Care Network (PCN) Leads to meet the requirements of the Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS). Key resources include:

Guidance and resources to support LPCs and community pharmacy teams to get involved in Primary Care Networks (PCNs), including undertaking the requirements of the PCN Domains in the Part 2 Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS) 2020/21.

Health Education England e-Learning for Health

Templates

Training record sheet (Microsoft Word) to capture staff that have completed training.
Training record sheet (PDF)
Action plan template (Microsoft Word) to support the creation of any action plans required to meet the requirements of any PQS criteria.
Action plan template (PDF)
Weight Management – Data Collection Sheet (Microsoft Word ) to capture data over a period of 4 consecutive weeks.
Weight Management – Data Collection Sheet ( PDF )

Visit PSNC's PQS hub for more

Here to Help - Committee Members, Locality Leads and Office Team

In response to contractor feedback we wanted to remind contractors of the roles and contact details of the LPC Committee Members, Locality Leads, and Office Team. You can also find this information and more through the 'GMLPC Staff Members' link at the bottom of all newsletters

GMLPC Committee Members and Locality Leads

As of April 2021 a new committee was elected and new locality leads for each area were appointed. These are as follows:

Fin McCaul Role: Chair Represents: Independent	Ifti Khan Role: Vice-Chair Represents: CCA	Mubasher Ali Role: Vice-Chair Represents: CCA
Mohammed Anwar Role: Treasurer and Locality Lead for Tameside & Glossop Represents: Independent	Mujahid Al-Amin Role: Locality Lead for Salford Represents: CCA	Peter Marks Role: Locality Lead for Stockport Represents: AIM
Aneet Kapoor Role: Locality Lead for Rochdale Represents: Independent	Mohamed Patel Role: Locality Lead for Bury Represents: Independent	Helen Smith Role: Locality Lead for Trafford Represents: CCA
Jennie Watson Role: Locality Lead for Manchester Represents: CCA	Gulamhusein Arsiwalla Role: Locality Lead for Oldham Represents: AIMp

GMLPC Office Team

We previously shared the roles and contact details of the LPC office team, this can be viewed here

Covid-19 Updates

The latest information for contractors relating to the Covid-19 pandemic are all available on our website here

Useful links

Locality Specific COVID-19 Updates

Out-of-stock reporting tool
Greater Manchester LPC
PSNC
CPPE and CPPE newsletter
Specialist Pharmacy Service
GMLPC Staff Members

RA team contacts (EPS/smartcards)
Public Health England resource centre
GM Health & Social Care Partnership
EPS tracker guide
EPS repeat dispensing guide
Greater Manchester Healthcare Academy
Pharmacist Support JustGiving Page

GMLPC understands the immense challenges contractors face, and our role is to represent and support you. We would like to remind all contractors that we are here to offer guidance, act as a sounding board, and intercede whenever possible.

CCA / Multiples: Contractors from large or small multiples should always check with their line manager or head office before acting on advice or booking training.

GMLPC Office Team – Contact Information

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