A-E

Community Pharmacies in Sussex and Surrey are working in challenging circumstances to ensure that everyone gets the medicines they need, when they need them, and tensions are understandably high.

But that does not mean people can go into pharmacy and abuse the staff.  Shouting abuse and swearing at staff who are doing their absolute best to keep local residents supplied with medicines is abhorrent and totally unacceptable. 

Two sized poster documents have been developed by the NPA Marketing team to support Pharmacy branches. Both carry the NHS logo. Here they are for you to download, print and display  ZERO Tolerance Poster A4    ZERO Tolerance poster A5.

For more information or for a word document that you can insert your own logo onto 

• • Email: lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk 

For the Pharmacy Quality Scheme 2021/22 you will need awareness of the local antibiotic formularies. Please find the local links below: 

• For Surrey Heartlands Pharmacies, information here.
• For Frimley Pharmacies, information here.
• For Coastal West Sussex Pharmacies, information here.
• For Crawley, Horsham and Mid Sussex Pharmacies, information here.
•  For Brighton and Hove and High Weald Lewes and Havens pharmacies, information here.
• For Eastbourne, Hailsham and Seaford and Hastings and Rother pharmacies areas, information here.

The Ask for ANI scheme allows those at risk or suffering from abuse to discreetly signal that they need help and access support. 

Read more about the scheme, which is voluntary. Sign up here

The Home Office has produced guidance on Ask-for-ANI-Non-participating-pharmacies.

More information and national sources of support

• • If your pharmacy is taking part in Ask for ANI and Safe Spaces to help victims of domestic abuse. Share these materials with staff to ensure they are trained to respond. Ask ANI and safe spaces scheme training toolkit
  • Display Ask for ANI and Safe Spaces schemes promotional materials

• • It is the discretion of the community pharmacist to decide if they can support requests for blister packs, taking into account Equality Act 2010 requirements. There is no funding from the NHS for community pharmacies to support the general use of medicines compartment aids (MCA). Consequently community pharmacies cannot be compelled to provide medicines in this way.
  • Available here is a reminder of the LPC and LMC joint statement on medicines compliance aids. Note this also discusses when 7-day prescriptions may be appropriate.

For more information

Email lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk

The service aims to increase the number of opportunities for Surrey residents to have their Blood Pressure and Pulse Rhythm checked in community settings to prevent stroke and CVD related illnesses. 

The BP+ service will be used to identify those patients who are most at risk of CVD.

For more information visit our Locally Commissioned services page here.

Although most generic medicines in category M are the most cost-effective way of prescribing that medicine, at times manufacturers reduce the price of their branded product to one that is cheaper than the equivalent generic product listed in category M. This is done to promote market share of the branded product.

Some CCGs encourage the prescribing of, and switching patients to, specific branded medicines or “branded” generics. Such a policy may deliver some cost savings to the CCG drugs bill; however, the savings are often unsustainable by the manufacturer.

In addition, by adopting these policies, this can impact on the financial viability of local pharmacies and put the provision of pharmaceutical services at risk. The reduction in prices at a local level may cause increased prices for the NHS as a whole, as adjustments are made to ensure full delivery of total agreed pharmacy funding. This adjustment is applied nationally, so the adjustment may not restore viability to seriously affected local pharmacies.

Frequent changes to prescribing could also be detrimental to patient care. Continually changing brands can create confusion for patients and can undermine their confidence in their medicines. There is also evidence that some branded generic products that have been subject to switching have quickly become short in supply, leading to delayed access to the medicines for the patient.

Source: The community pharmacy – a guide for general practitioners and practice staff published by PSNC and BMA in May 2019

For more information

• • Drug tariff (NHSBSA)
  • Drug tariff (on PSNC website)
  • Surrey and Sussex LPCs are committed to highlighting the disadvantages of branded generics contact us at lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk if you want to know more

A contractual breach occurs when one or more parties, who have entered into a contractual agreement, fail or refuse to perform their obligations under the agreement. 

Chapter 37 on page 304 of the Pharmacy Manual sets out the approach to be taken by NHS England when monitoring compliance and managing performance of NHS community pharmacy contracts.

For more information 

• • Contact us at lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk

Use our A-Z of advice, hints, tips and links to help you save valuable time should an emergency affect your pharmacy business.

Here is a list of contact details some of community pharmacies most important external stakeholders.

For more information 

• • Refer to your pharmacies SOPs (standard operating procedures)
  • See national template emergency planning resources from PSNC 
  • Contact us at lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk

Information under services here.

For more information 

• • NHS England 
  • Contact us at lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk

Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are NHS organisations that bring together local GPs and experienced health professionals to take on commissioning responsibilities for local health services.

For more information 

• • Look at our CCG page
  • Contact us: lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk 

A contractor may close a pharmacy on a temporary basis if prevented from opening by reason of illness or other reasonable cause. NHSE&I has indicated that contractors closing temporarily  must:

• • • Inform your local GP surgeries of the closure and how long it will last
    • inform NHSE&I of the temporary closure (and any arrangements for continuity of service with other contractors/pharmacies)
    • update the pharmacy NHS 111 Directory of Services (DoS) profile; and
    • update the NHS Website.

• Here is the form required to notify NHSE&I of a closure

In the event of a pharmacy closure particular thought should be given to patients receiving services such as supervised consumption or monitored dosage systems.

• • • Ensure that your local Drug and Alcohol Team is informed as soon as a closure is confirmed – this will enable them to support your patients to safely receive services at another pharmacy without missing their medication.
    • Contact monitored dosage patients to arrange medication supply via another pharmacy if necessary.
    • Return patients EPS prescriptions to the spine, to minimise disruption for patients in obtaining their prescriptions elsewhere.

Contractor actions

• • • Consider using the community pharmacy emergency closure checklist, which has been developed by PSNC with NHSE&I to ensure that all necessary parties are informed of the situation
    • See also B for business continuity at communitypharmacyss.co.uk for contact details for some of your most important external stakeholders in Sussex and Surrey
    • Check that your business continuity plan is up to date and has all the relevant contact information for people you would need to contact in the event of a closure/emergency

There are five forms for use by contractors to notify/apply for changes to opening hours and a form for the notification of premises closures. These should be emailed to ENGLAND.southeastcommunitypharmacy@nhs.net

Here’s a copy of the NHS England & Improvement Regional Pharmacy Contracts Team policy on unplanned closures in the South East

Further information on opening hours (including changes and suspension) and how NHSE&I administers opening hours for pharmacies, which is handled locally by its regional offices.

These forms relate to Chapters 36 and 38 of the Pharmacy Manual and are for contractors to advise/apply to the regional teams with regard to opening hours. Forms should be submitted to the South East (Kent, Surrey, Sussex) local primary care pharmacy contract team:  england.southeastcommunitypharmacy@nhs.net

• • Application form – application to change core opening hours
  • Notification of opening hours on bank and public holidays
  • Notification of changes to supplementary opening hours
  • Planned temporary suspension of services
  • Unplanned temporary suspension of services
  • Closure of premises notification

For Market Entry forms, please see Primary Care Support England website.

For more information 

• • Pharmacy Manual
  • Contact lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk 

• • Controlled Drug regulations
  • Who can prescribe what?
  • EPS and Controlled Drugs
  • Methadone dispensing (FP10 and FP10MDA)
  • Instalment dispensing
  • Controlled Drug prescription forms and validity

Report all controlled drug incidents to the NHS England CDAO South East using the online reporting system at cdreporting.co.uk

For more information 

• • See also Controlled drugs – Schedule 2 CD destructions and authorised witness applications, below
  • See: www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng46
  • Contact the controlled drugs accountable officer for the South East: England.SouthEastCDAO@nhs.net
  • Contact  lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk

You must apply online for an authorised witness and then wait to receive a 28 day authorisation via email PRIOR to undertaking any Schedule 2 CD destructions in the pharmacy.  You can apply online here after a quick registration and complete an application for an authorised witness on the authorised witness module:

Once the authorised witness application has been approved, by the NHS England and NHS Improvement Controlled Drugs Accountable Officer for the South East, Julie McCann, you will be sent an email with the authorisation in the main body of the email.

The authorisation email will be sent by a member of the CDAO team in the South East so could be from Julie McCann or another member of the CDAO team following Julie’s approval. This authorisation will state:

• • the name of the person authorised as the witness
  • the premises where the destruction can take place
  • and the time period covering 28 days from the date of approval of the application.

Approval may take a week or so due to the volume of applications received from across the South East

You can ensure that the process is more efficient by checking that you are complying with all requirements on the application as having to query “no” responses can increase the time taken to process the application.

For more information 

• • All queries about the process to CDAO team at england.southeastCDAO@nhs.net
  • Additional queries and clarity from lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk

We receive frequent queries from contractors about requests from commissioners for the undertaking of enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks on pharmacy staff providing NHS services. Read PSNCs guidance.

For  more information

• • The National Health Service (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013
  • Contact us: lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk

Information and FAQs about Information Governance  and a Data and Security Protection (IG) Toolkit can be found on PSNCs website

For more information 

• • Contact us: lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk 

It can be tough to keep track of all the different contractual deadlines. To help, we’ve compiled a list of the most important ones, which we send to contractors on or around the 1st of every month. Keep these dates in mind, and you’ll avoid any last minute panic.

See all Deadline Trackers

Some colleagues print it and display on their notice boards, others allocate the tasks to team members and get them to tick when completed.

For more information

• • Contact your LPC@communitypharmacyss.co.uk

It is not a requirement of community pharmacy’s contractual framework with the NHS to provide a home delivery service, although some community pharmacists do provide this service to some patients either free-of-charge, or for a small fee. 

For more information 

• • Contact us: lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk 

The dm+d is a dictionary of descriptions and codes which represent medicines and devices in use across the NHS.

For more information

• • dm+d browser and other useful information
  • Contact us at lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk

Discharge Medicines Service for more information click here.

The Discharge Medicines Service (DMS) has complex reporting requirements that need to be completed at the end of each month. These requirements see contractors having to enter a lengthy data set for each DMS intervention completed into the Manage Your Service (MYS) portal. This guide from Pinnacle, creators of Pharmoutcomes, will help you create a bespoke report to help with your data return. PharmOutcomes User Guide – DMS Reporting

The report effectively converts your DMS records to a format aligned with the requirements of the MYS portal. This will reduce workload for pharmacy team members. 

Please see the University Hospitals Sussex Discharge Medicines Service Webinar here.

The table below shows progress across Sussex and Surrey since go live in February 2022.

Contractors in areas where the system is live should remember to check every day for referrals and process them in line with their local procedure.

For more information

• • Contact us at lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk
  • Choose the section of information on DMS  at PSNC
    

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This letter reminds pharmacy staff of the key signs of domestic abuse and the services that are available to help them to support patients, seek help if they are affected or support colleagues.

Following the launch of the ‘Ask for ANI’ codeword scheme that allows survivors of domestic abuse to access support from the safety of a local pharmacy we have collated contact details for domestic abuse services across Surrey and Sussex.

• • Surrey’s Domestic Abuse Helpline offers support, advice, and information on how to get help for people experiencing domestic abuse, family, friends, and professionals working with them Tel: 01483 776822 www.surreyagainstda.info
  • West Sussex. Information about services here
  • East Sussex. Safer communities partnership information here
  • Brighton and Hove. Information about services on the city council’s website here

  • The 24-hour National Domestic Abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247 offers confidential, non-judgmental information and support.

  • Women’s Aid – information and support, email helpline@womensaid.org.uk or use the instant messaging service.

  • Patients in immediate danger, should call 999.

More information

• • Pharmacies launch codeword scheme to offer ‘lifeline’ to domestic abuse victims (Government press release 14 January 2021)
  • Ask for ANI domestic abuse codeword scheme: Guidance for pharmacies using the UK says no more: safe spaces scheme
  • If your pharmacy is taking part in Ask for ANI and Safe Spaces to help victims of domestic abuse
    • share these materials with staff to ensure they are trained to respond. Ask ANI and safe spaces scheme training toolkit
    • Display Ask for ANI and Safe Spaces schemes promotional materials

See ‘B’ for blister pack, above

If prescribers systematically increase prescription duration on all or a significant percentage of their prescription items, this could lead to dispensing contractors facing increased supplier bills in certain months (as more medicines are dispensed per prescription than usual) and then decreased prescription item volume in subsequent months.

Where a contractor’s dispensing business is affected in this way, the contractor may be entitled to make one or both of the following claims under temporary safeguarding arrangement.

Read more on the Drug Tariff website

• • The Drug Tariff is available online on the NHS prescription services pages of the NHSBSA website
  • PSNCs guided tour of the drug tariff
  • Price concessions webinar 
  • Dispensing and supply monthly updates

For more information

• • Contact us at lpc:communitypharmacyss.co.uk
  • Choose the section of information on dispensing and supply at PSNC
    

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There is concern about the use of edibles by a small number of young people which has resulted in some requiring medical assistance.

See below (under more information) for a briefing on edibles which includes: 

• • potential signs and symptoms following consumption of edible cannabis;
  • how to ensure effective triage of these young people; 
  • ensure you have information on how to support children and young people who may have access to edibles.  

More information

• • May 2021 Edibles information for professionals 
  • Contact us at lpc:communitypharmacyss.co.uk

Easter Pharmacy Opening Hours 2022 – Click here for information.

For more information 

• • Contact us at lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk
    

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• • Electronic Repeat Dispensing Guidance
  • The NHS Digital eRD toolkit by NHS Digital 
  • PSNC-Briefing-004.17-eRepeat-Dispensing-a-resource-for-pharmacy-teams (1)
  • Hints and Tips to help you make the most of ePS  from NHS Business Service Authority
  • EPS prescription tracker and help to use the tracker Access the tracker using your PC and NHS Smartcard
  • EPS and controlled drugs

For more information 

• • See PSNC resources
  • Helping the roll-out of Schedule 2 & 3 Controlled Drugs in EPS in Surrey and Sussex
  • Urgent care prescribing  using EPS CDs  it@psnc.org.uk.
  • Contact us at lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk
    

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