CHANGES TO OPENING HOURS - COVID-19 (Repeat Article)
The NHS England Team in Cheshire & Mersey has written to all community pharmacies with clarity regarding the Section 5.1, pages 6-8 of the pharmacy SOP.
They will be looking at the ongoing local situation and national guidance very carefully ensuring that all arrangements are reviewed as situations change and are seeking to take a very pragmatic view of how they work with contractors to manage and support.
They ask that you communicate with them any concerns with regard opening hours sooner rather than later so that they can work to plan services and ensure you are supported locally.
Should you have a requirement due to concerns over safety or efficacy of service delivery, at times of extreme pressure, require to implement the SOP allowance to work behind closed doors or to apply to amend your opening hours or even temporarily close, the following processes should be undertaken.
Please refer to the email (sent on 5 November) for full details.
CPCW NEWS
DEADLINE TRACKER - DECEMBER 2020 (Repeat Article)
The December edition of the Deadline Tracker is now available to help keep you on track with your monthly tasks and to meet local and national deadlines.
The Tracker can be downloaded from the LPC website here.
The LPC would welcome any feedback on the tracker and will consider suggestions for future versions.
PH PARTICIPATION REPORTING - OPEN UNTIL TOMORROW (FRIDAY 4 DECEMBER)
Please be aware that the window to report participation in the October Flu Campaign on PharmOutcomes is open until 11.59pm on Friday 4 December.
To access the reporting template please log onto PharmOutcomes; clicking on the Service Tab takes you to the Services screen. The left hand side of the screen shows a list of services under the header “Provide Services”; these are the services you have been accredited to provide. The PH Campaign data entry template will be listed under the heading ‘** Health Promotion Campaign **’.
Please remember participating is a contractual requirement and failure to participate may result in a breach notice being issued.
The LPC is here to help so if you are experiencing any problems with accessing the PharmOutcomes system to record completion of your campaigns then please contact support@cpcw.org.uk
REPORTING MEDICINES SHORTAGES (Standing Item)
Please continue to help PSNC help you and give them evidence to negotiate a decent concession price, report all medicine prices that are invoiced at more than tariff.
Can all contractors please remember to continue report any new medicine shortages not listed on the SPS website using PSNCs online reporting form if you have not been able to source stock of a medicine from any supplier or manufacturer.
If a medicine is not affected by a shortage but is unavailable to purchase from your supplier(s) at or below the Drug Tariff listed price, please report the pricing issue to PSNC to consider a request for a price concession.
PHARMACY CONTRACTS AND MANAGEMENT
ARTICLE FROM PRIMARY CARE BULLETIN: CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR PERIOD
In the Primary Care Bulletin (Issue 87, 1 December 2020), the following update appeared around Christmas and New Year arrangements which will be of interest to contractors.
Christmas and New Year Period
We recognise that everyone in primary care has made a huge commitment this year to ensure their patients continue to access the services they need. This includes working weekends, bank holidays and through religious holidays and festivals. We are extremely grateful and recognise the need to preserve public holidays has never been more important, providing some additional and much needed time to recharge.
Your local commissioners have been planning weekend and bank holiday cover arrangements for this coming Christmas and New Year period. The possibility that all primary care (general practice, community pharmacy, dentistry and optometry) could again be asked to routinely open to meet surge demands from the combined challenges this winter has naturally been kept under review, but we can confirm there are currently no such plans. Local commissioners and primary care providers can therefore continue to plan on the basis of their planned cover arrangements. If you have volunteered or agreed to provide such cover, thank you and we hope you will find some time to recharge too!
As part of NHS Wirral CCG commitment to cost effective prescribing patients may be switched where clinically appropriate to the following brands. Please take this opportunity to review your current stock holding.
Switched From: Quetiapine MR Preparations Switched To: Sondate XL Supporting Information: New patients will be initiated on this brand as agreed by CWP. Existing patients will be switched starting in January 2021
November's edition of Tablets, a prescribing newsletter produced monthly by the Medicines Management team at Midlands and Lancashire CSU, has now been published.
THE ASK FOR ANI (ACTION NEEDED IMMEDIATELY) CODEWORD SCHEME
The Home Office and the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has launched the Ask for ANI (Action Needed Immediately) codeword scheme which further supports the Safe Use of Consultation Rooms Initiative.The link below provides further information on the initiative and how pharmacies can be part this lifesaving initiative. It would be great if pharmacies across Cheshire, Wirral & Warrington can support this.
CENSUS 2021 WILL PROVIDE A SNAPSHOT OF MODERN SOCIETY AND THEY ARE ASKING FOR OUR SUPPORT (Article provided by John Kenny, Census Engagement Manager (Wirral), Office for National Statistics)
Households across Wirral and Cheshire will soon be asked to take part in Census 2021.
The census is a once-in-a-decade survey that gives us the most accurate estimate of all the people and households in England and Wales. It has been carried out every decade since 1801, with the exception of 1941.
It will be the first run predominantly online, with households receiving a letter with a unique access code, allowing them to complete the questionnaire on their computers, phones or tablets. Paper copies are available for those that want them.
Census day will be on 21 March, but households across the country will receive letters with online codes allowing them to take part from early March.
A successful census will ensure everyone from local government to charities can put services and funding in the places where they are most needed.
This could mean things like doctors’ surgeries, pharmacies, schools and new transport routes.
That’s why it is so important everyone takes part and it has been made it easier for people to do so online on any device, with help and paper questionnaires for those that need them.
Census support centres, help lines and dedicated Census staff will be available to direct people to for full support to complete the census questionnaire.
The census will include questions about your sex, age, work, health, education, household size and ethnicity. And, for the first time, there will be a question asking people whether they have served in the armed forces, as well as voluntary questions for those aged 16 and over on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Results will be available within 12 months, although personal records will be locked away for 100 years, kept safe for future generations.
There will be a national campaign starting in January including TV and newspaper advertising. Soon everyone will be talking about the Census.
In January staff from Census 2021 will begin delivering posters and leaflets announcing the census and we would appreciate these being displayed.
To support you and your pharmacies to understand, implement and engage with the Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (GP Referrals), VirtualOutcomes is developing a library of materials. The courses will reflect learnings from the national pilot and will provide you, your pharmacies and your surgeries with all the support materials needed.
ONLINE TRAINING EVENT AROUND SEX AND SEXUAL HEALTH (FREE for Cheshire West and Chester Contractors, otherwise there is a £25 charge)
SEXSMART a Body Positive project is running a number of online training events around sex and sexual health. Including C-Card training for pharmacies and other individuals wanting to become a condom distribution site. The training is to replace the old C-Card scheme so all practitioners wanting to continue or begin to distribute condoms via the scheme need to complete the online training and registration process.
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