Welcome to Community Pharmacy Lincolnshire News

Happy New Year!

After what was an eventful and very busy year for pharmacy contractors in the county, we at Community Pharmacy Lincolnshire want to wish you a happy new year and look forward to working with you and on your behalf, ensuring the valuable role of community pharmacy in population health is appropriately recognised, as we move into 2022!

GPCPCS 

We have been working with the LMC and ICS/CCG to try and gain momentum in the roll out of the GPCPCS service.  Whilst some practices have been keen and have embraced the service, others have reported that some pharmacies are responding to GPCPCS referrals saying they do not have capacity to complete them.  We understand that pharmacies are very busy at this time and we have conveyed this message to our GP colleagues however, it is important to remember that pharmacies who are signed up to CPCS are automatically required to do the GP referrals too; contractors cannot choose to only undertake referrals from NHS111.

GPs can refer patients to community pharmacies to receive a CPCS consultation for minor illness (unlike NHS 111, GPs cannot refer patients for an urgent supply of a medicine or appliance).  From summer 2021 the resources to support GPs in Lincolnshire had been rolled out and we envisaged a gradual increase in referrals as we move from autumn into winter 2021.

More information, including what to do if a GPCPCS referred patient does not contact the pharmacy, along with access to training resources for pharmacy contractors, can be found on our website here.

RPS and RCGP Training for CPCS

Get ready for CPCS referrals from GPs and NHS111 with NHS-funded workshops!

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society are working with the Royal College of General Practitioners, who are working together on Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS) workshops.

These offer the opportunity to learn from GPs and advanced clinical practitioners in small interactive groups.  

These 2-part award-winning online workshops will help you gain confidence in:

• History taking
• Identifying red flags in consultations
• Involving patients during decision-making
• Supporting clinical reasoning with evidence-based practice
• Safety netting, signposting and referrals
• Clinical assessments and observations 

If you are interested in attending, to find out more and book your place now, please follow the link below:

https://rphar.ms/2Vrcbw2

CPPE also offer a single day workshop.  Details can be found on our website here.

GPhC Consultation on use of Remote Hearings

The GPhC is seeking feedback on a proposed permanent change to the GPhC’s procedural rules to give the pharmacy regulator the express legal power to conduct hearings and meetings by teleconference or videolink.

The consultation is seeking views on the positive and negative impacts of continuing to hold some hearings remotely on patients and the public, pharmacy professionals and individuals or groups sharing protected characteristics. Views are also being sought on the advantages and disadvantages of holding remote hearings and on any circumstances when a hearing should not be held remotely. 

The consultation is open until 8 February 2022. 

More information can be found at the link below:

GPhC launches consultation on remote hearings | General Pharmaceutical Council (pharmacyregulation.org)