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The Central Alerting System (CAS) is a web-based cascading system for issuing patient safety alerts, important public health messages and other safety critical information and guidance to the NHS and others, including independent providers of health and social care. Alerts available on the CAS website include safety alerts, CMO messages, drug alerts, Dear Doctor letters and Medical Device Alerts.

The MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency) also sends alerts. Contractors can sign up to receive information direct to their email in-boxes.

MHRA’s alerts and recalls for drugs and medical devices  |  Drug Safety Update (a monthly newsletter for healthcare professionals  |  MHRA’s new publications, statistics, consultations and announcements.

For more information

• • • CPEs page on patient safety information
    • Contact us at lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk

The ‘Manage your service’ (MYS) portal aims to reduce the administrative burden on community pharmacies by providing one portal to complete reimbursement and remuneration tasks and it’s going to be the only way contractors can claim for certain services.

Pharmacies need to sign-up to use the portal by completing an access authorisation form.

For more information 

• • • Manage your service (MYS)
    • Contact nhsbsa.mys@nhs.net.
    • Contact us at  lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk 

See ‘B’ for blister pack

For more information

• • Email lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk

There is a very high level of media interest about pharmacy locally and nationally.

If you are contacted by the media you, of course, have full authority to comment, but be sure to consult your organisational policy first!

However, you might prefer to refer them on to Community Pharmacy Surrey or Community Pharmacy Sussex or contact us to help you decide on a course of action and agree a statement.

For more information 

• • Contact lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk

ICSs have teams of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians who work closely with community pharmacy, GPs and other local health providers to help get the best out of medicines for local people. These medicines management teams also support their ICSs aim to improve the health of the population by optimising the use of medicines.

Contact details for medicines management teams in Surrey and Sussex.

Shortages of medicines are becoming an increasingly frequent issue that can hinder pharmacy teams’ efforts to dispense medicines in a timely manner. Community Pharmacy England is very concerned about the impact that current supply problems are having on pharmacy teams’ workload and about the potential impact on their patients.

The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) produces a monthly update of shortages for primary and secondary care, this can be found on the Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS) website.

Please report any new medicine shortages not listed on the SPS website using the CPE online reporting form if you have not been able to source stock of a medicine from any supplier or manufacturer. The Community Pharmacy England medicine shortage reporting form is intended for use by primary care teams only. Information on the reported medicine may be shared with the DHSC’s medicine supply team.

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 Community Pharmacy England to consider a request for a price concession.

Mind the Gap Handbook, is a clinical guide to signs and symptoms in black and brown skin, which was produced to address the lack of diversity in medical literature and education. 

Download the Handbook from here

This toolkit, jointly developed by STOP THE TRAFFIK and Shiva Foundation, seeks to provide practical guidance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on how they can prevent modern slavery in their business operations.

The toolkit has practical steps on how your SME suppliers can assess their company’s risks; mitigate the risks affecting their employees and their agency staff as well as how to report and remedy any incidents. Please feel free to pass this on to your SME suppliers and networks.

For more information

• • • • This page on .gov.uk brings together documents and promotional material related to the government’s work to end modern slavery.
      • Contact us at lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk 

The generic NHS App allows people to see their medical records — including vaccinations — and test results are shared with GP databases.

For more information

• • The generic NHS App and more specific NHS Covid-19 App.
  • The NHS App is now available to use as a vaccine passport. There have been many queries from patients and the public into how to download and use this, so here is a guide: NHS App FINAL.
    

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The NHS Business Services Authority is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department of Health and Social Care. It provides central services to NHS bodies, patients and the public, such as managing the NHS pension scheme and administering payments to pharmacists and dentists.

Dispensing Contractors – information  |  Drug Tariff  |  Prescribing & dispensing  |  Submitting prescriptions  |   Payments & pricing  |  Serious shortage protocols (SSPs)  |   Hints, tips & webinars  |  Pharmacies, GP practices and appliance contractors news

• • • Sign up for the dispensing contractors newsletter
    • Sign up for the information services newsletter

For more information

• • Got a question? Visit the NHS prescription services knowledge base.

• • NHS prescription services on the NHSBSA website.
  • Contact NHS prescription services.
  • NHSBSA Manage Your Service (MYS).
  • Contact us at lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk.

The NHS website is the primary public facing website of the NHS. Its pages include directories of local health services (a Directory of Services), information on a wide range of conditions and treatments and accessible public health information. The site also provides comparative data about healthcare providers, to help people make informed choices about their healthcare and allows patients to provide online feedback on services.

It is a requirement of contractors terms of service to ensure they verify and, where necessary, update the information contained in their NHS website profile and their Directory of Services (DoS) profile at least once each quarter of the financial year.  

Even if no changes have been made during the financial quarter, contractors should still verify this information on both the NHS website and DoS; this will create records which will act as evidence to NHS England and NHS Improvement that these actions have been undertaken. 

For more information

• • Read more about updating NHS website profiles – link to CPE website. 
  • Read more about updating DoS profiles – link to CPE website. 
  • Contact us at lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk.

NHSmail is a centrally funded and managed secure email and communications service which is approved by the NHS for exchanging patient data.

To set up NHS Mail, register via the community pharmacy NHSmail registration portal here. You need to provide the name, email addresses and mobile phone number of each team member that will be allocated a personal NHSmail account (once you have located your pharmacy on the registration page – have your GPhC premises number handy too). Note if you work for a multiple pharmacy group – please check with your head Office for their own internal procedures for obtaining a NHS e-mail address.

          Guide to link shared & personal mailboxes.

If you have any issues during the process, please contact pharmacyadmin@nhs.net, who will support you through the process.

Read more: Guide for Pharmacies (NHSmail-March-2017-1)  |  About NHSmail  |  Start using NHSmail  |  Security  |  Guidance for sending secure email (including to patients)  |  Related pages 

For more information

• • Pharmacy helpdesk: pharmacyadmin@nhs.net should be your first point of contact for help with your account, such as unlocking your account or a password reset.
  • NHSmail helpdesk: For all other queries regarding NHSmail, the national NHSmail helpdesk is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on 0333 200 1133, or via email at helpdesk@nhs.net.
  • NHS mail and PQS (pharmacy quality scheme 2019+)
  • Contact us at lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk

For more information see our advanced services page here.

Every week we compile and distribute a round-up of news and updates to help pharmacy owners and managers in Surrey and Sussex keep up to date with their LPCs and their wider network of professional acquaintances, colleagues and local commissioners.

This is additional to nationally significant news and information distributed by CPE.

For more information

• • • Our newsletters
    • Sign up to receive Surrey and Sussex news distributed by the LPCs
    • Sign up to nationally significant news and information distributed by CPE

ICB’s are responsible for overseeing opening hours for pharmacies. Within the South East this is handled locally by the SE Pharmacy Commissioning Hub based in Frimley ICB.

For more information 

• • • CPEs information on opening hours includes advice about: changes to core contractual hours; changes to supplementary hours; temporary suspension of pharmaceutical services; bank holiday opening hours.
    • Contact us: lpc@communitypharmacyss.co.uk