Pathfinder Independent Prescribing - Expressions of Interest in Lincolnshire reopened - deadline for applications Tuesday 10th October
Community Pharmacy England have recently produced a useful piece regarding fees for the programme here:
Fee for independent prescribing under pathfinder programme - Community Pharmacy England (cpe.org.uk)
Please find below content of an email circulated to all contractors in case you missed it.
LINCOLNSHIRE ICB: INDEPENDENT PRESCRIBING IN COMMUNITY PHARMACY PATHFINDER PROGRAMME
As a relatively small number of Expressions of Interest were received from pharmacy contractors in Lincolnshire ICB for the Community Pharmacy Independent Prescriber Pathfinder Programme, we are reopening the EOI process as we believe some contractors may have missed the previous deadline.
PLEASE NOTE: IF YOU SUBMITTED THE EOI BEFORE THE ORIGINAL DEADLINE OF 18 SEPTEMBER 2023 THERE IS NO NEED FOR YOU TO RECOMPLETE THE FORM.
The strategic aim of the Pathfinder programme is to develop a commissioning framework that will support the commissioning of independent prescribing as part of clinical services in community pharmacy. From September 2026 all newly qualified pharmacists will be independent prescribers on the first day of registration, and this presents an opportunity for NHS England to commission clinical services from community pharmacists.
MODELS
NHS England will evaluate new prescribing models in community pharmacy that fall into three broad categories:
1. Existing community pharmacy commissioned services, e.g. NHS Community Pharmacist Consultation Service, Common Conditions Service or NHS Contraception Service.
2. Long term conditions, e.g. prescribing for cardiovascular disease (hypertension, lipid optimisation, anticoagulation in atrial fibrillation) and respiratory disease (inhaler optimisation, rescue therapy).
3. Novel services, e.g. deprescribing, prescription management, reviewing antidepressants, and menopause services.
LINCOLNSHIRE ICB
Lincolnshire ICB has approval from NHS England to test the following models in 4 Pathfinder sites:
- Minor illnesses associated with acute Ear, Nose and Throat conditions - The LICB intend to utilise the skills of community pharmacist IPs working in collaboration with local general practices to address urgent patient need for help, advice and possible intervention relating to acute ENT conditions. The range of acute conditions within our scope will include:
• bacterial sinusitis
• otitis externa
• otitis externa with suspected secondary infection
• otitis media
• chronic sinusitis
• sore throat
- Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) prevention- The NHS Long Term Plan aims to identify more people with undetected risk factors of CVD such as high blood pressure, raised cholesterol, and atrial fibrillation (AF).
The scope of CVD prevention includes:
•Measurement of total, high‑density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, non‑HDL cholesterol, and triglyceride concentrations
•Weight measurement including calculating Body Mass Index (BMI).
•Assessment of patient’s smoking status and offer of smoking cessation support where patient seems motivated to quit.
•Measurement of blood pressure (BP), preferrable manually, with the aim of identifying patients with hypertension and detecting irregular or fast heart rate. Manual BP reading aims to detect possible atrial fibrillation and reduce stroke risk.
•Offering people at high risk of CVD who are overweight or obese appropriate advice and support to help them work towards achieving and maintaining a healthy weight.
•Using the QRISK2 risk assessment tool to assess CVD risk for the primary prevention of CVD in people up to and including age 84 years.
•Discussing the benefits of lifestyle modification and optimisation of the management of all other modifiable CVD risk factors if possible.
•Statin treatment should be offered for the primary prevention of CVD to people with an estimated 10-year CVD risk of 10% or more if lifestyle interventions have not proved effective.
- Acute Conditions
• Prescribing decision following consultation for minor illness or complaint.
• Prescribing POM, P or OTC medicines (within local guidelines for prescribing OTC/low value medicines)
Pharmacy contractors can express interest in as many of the models as they wish.
Due to timescales, to participate in the Pathfinder programme you must have one or more qualified Independent Prescriber Pharmacists, as evidenced by annotation in the GPhC register, available to deliver the programme.
If you meet this requirement and wish to express interest, please complete the online form at https://forms.office.com/e/FJh2VBS268 The online submission must be done in one sitting and cannot be saved or edited once submitted. A copy of the online submission in MS Word format is attached to help you develop your EOI.
USEFUL INFORMATION
- Sessions
Independent Prescribing will be made available for a number of sessions.Each session is 4 hours in length and there is a maximum of 6 sessions per week or 24 sessions per month per pathfinder.Pathfinder sites may start with a low number of sessions and then increase as the service establishes.
- Models
You may express interest in participating in one or more of the models which are being tested in this ICB.
- Appointments or Walk In
We anticipate most models will require the Independent Prescriber Pharmacist to be present in addition to the Responsible Pharmacist and (depending on the model) there will an opportunity to plan patients within the IP CP session, therefore utilising the 4 hours.
However, some models, such as those for Minor Illness, are difficult to plan and it may be that the IP CP and the RP are the same person.It could be agreed locally in these cases that one session extends over a day.
- Funding
Each session will be funded at £198
There will be a set up fee of £1,500 per Pathfinder site
Pathfinder sites with multiple models that involve additional set up costs will receive a ‘top up’ set up fee.
- IT
Each Pathfinder site will be provided with an EPS system to generate prescriptions.In addition, IP CPs will have access to patient records through GP Connect.Pathfinder sites will be expected to use their own systems to store consultation records.It is acknowledged this is ‘clunky’ for the IP CPs and record keeping is likely to involve additional time. Once Pathfinder sites are selected, the CPCLs and other Programme Support will work closely with the Pathfinder sites.
- SLA/service spec
The draft SLA/service spec will be available soon.If you intend to express interest in this programme, please email eleanor.carnegie@nhs.net who will send you a copy as soon as it is available.
- Expressing interest for more than one pharmacy
You can include express interest for more than one pharmacy on a single electronic form PROVIDING THEY ARE IN THE SAME ICS. Different ICS are approved for different Pathfinder models so if you wish to express interest for pharmacies in more than one ICS then a separate form must be completed for each ICS.
- Please note this reopening of the EOI process is for 3 ICS in the Midlands Region only (Herefordshire & Worcestershire ICS, Lincolnshire ICS and Northamptonshire ICS).
NEXT STEPS AND HELP AVAILABLE
- Complete and submit the electronic EOI form by close of play Tuesday 10 October 2023
- Questions can be emailed to Teresa Ogungbesan, your Community Pharmacy Clinical Lead at teresa.ogungbesan@nhs.net If Teresa is unavailable due to annual leave please email Jacqueline.buxton@nhs.net
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