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Welcome to Community Pharmacy Lincolnshire News

Welcome to our weekly newsletter.

In this week's email:

Summary of PQS learning requirements
CPCS IT: change to funding and procurement
PQS PCN Resources Published

UPCOMING DEADLINES

Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS) commences from Wednesday 1st September 2021

PSNC, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) have agreed the arrangements for the 2021/22 scheme, with a focus on priorities supporting recovery from COVID-19. Learning summary in this newsletter.

PQS guidance and learning for 2021/22

PQS for 2021/22 has now commenced. PSNC have produced a range of resources which can be accessed at the links below:

Guidance for contractors on getting started: https://psnc.org.uk/our-news/the-2021-22-pqs-making-a-start/

PQS Hub page: https://psnc.org.uk/services-commissioning/pharmacy-quality-scheme/

If you choose to sign up for all domains, an amount of learning is required. To assist with completion of this learning we have summarised the requirements in a table which can be accessed here. The summary table includes indicative timings and links to CPPE training resources. We recommend considering the timing of the learning carefully; for example early completion of the CPPE inhaler technique training will allow more time for completion of inhaler technique checks and 'catch-up' NMS as part of the respiratory domain.

CPCS IT: change to funding and procurement

NHSE&I funding for the two current CPCS IT systems (Sonar and PharmOutcomes) was due to cease from 30th September 2021, with plans to move to a 'provider pays' model where community pharmacies would pay a small charge per completed consultation through the platform.

This national procurement model has been in place to support community pharmacy contractors with the delivery of the Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS). Announcements have been made that the national procurement model is now extended further (to the end of March 2022), allowing pharmacy contractors more time to complete the transition and make their own arrangements for CPCS IT systems.

Contractors are recommended to start considering which supplier they want to choose well in advance. From the autumn, contractors will be able to transition to their own contractual arrangements with one of the four assured IT providers (Cegedim, Sonar, PharmOutcomes and Positive Solutions).

https://psnc.org.uk/our-news/cpcs-it-change-to-funding-and-procurement/

If you have queries about this please contact Daniel at PSNC directly: Daniel.Ah-Thion@psnc.org.uk

PQS PCN resources published

PSNC have published updated Pharmacy Quality Scheme PCN resources, all of which are available on their PCN resources page.

PQS FAQs are available here.

Please Note: Per the Sept Drug Tariff – The contractor must have engaged with the Pharmacy Primary Care Network Lead (Pharmacy PCN Lead) to communicate that they would like to be involved in increasing the uptake of flu vaccination to patients aged 65 and over for the 2021/22 influenza season. All communications between the contractor and Pharmacy PCN Leads must be completed by 31 December 2021.

Community Pharmacy Lincolnshire will share more details over the coming weeks, and will support Community Pharmacy PCN leads to complete this activity.

Community Pharmacy Lincolnshire are continuing to update and refresh our website. Let us know if there are any specific things you'd like to see, You can email us at info@pharmacylincolnshire.org

Remember, you can also contact us using info@pharmacylincolnshire.org with any questions, queries or feedback you may have.

Lincolnshire Local Pharmaceutical Committee is the voice of NHS pharmacies in Lincolnshire. For further information about the work we do, contact chief.officer@pharmacylincolnshire.org or visit www.pharmacylincolnshire.org