| Weekly News Digest - 27th March 2025 |
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| Community pharmacy teams are reminded that, from 6 April 2025, patients who hold a tax credit exemption certificate will no longer receive automatic entitlement to free NHS prescriptions under the ‘Tax Credit exemption certificate’ category. The NHS Business Services Authority has produced a poster for community pharmacies to display. See here for further information. |
| The NHS Flu Vaccination Service ends on 31st March 2025, and no further vaccinations should be administered under this service after this date. Claims for payment should be submitted within one month of, and no later than three months, from the claim period for vaccinations provided. Claims submitted after this period will not be paid. |
| From the 1st April 2025 Dals will provide a unified interpretation service for GPs, dental practices, pharmacies and optometrists across BOB. Please do not use Dals' services before 1st April. All previous interpretation services operating across BOB will cease on the 31st March 2025. Please note that this interpretation service is only available to NHS patients. See here for more details. |
| The Government has not yet finalised decisions regarding any increases to prescription charges and prescription pre-payment certificates (PPCs) for 2025/26. The current charges will therefore roll over into April 2025. Community Pharmacy England will update community pharmacy teams as soon as any changes are announced by Ministers. Click here. |
| The NHS and Care Volunteer Responders (NHSCVR) programme, delivered by Royal Voluntary Service and GoodSAM for NHS England, supports healthcare teams in England by providing non-clinical assistance. Volunteers are available to assist pharmacies with stewarding during the COVID-19 Spring 2025 vaccination campaign, and steward shifts can be requested now. Click here. |
| The Cybersecurity Unit of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has launched a survey to understand the cybersecurity needs of pharmacy teams and other primary care sectors. The survey takes just 5–10 minutes to complete, and your input will help them consider whether they might need to provide additional and more tailored support. |
| Please complete this using NHS Profile Manager before deadline 31st March 2025. This is a mandatory requirement for all pharmacy owners. Useful NHS Profile Manager Tutorials are available here. |
| Check out the monthly deadline tracker and stay organized, keep on top of your schedule and meet deadlines with ease. By keeping an eye on key dates and tasks, the tracker is intended to help you to stay on track. See here for March edition. |
Reminder from DHSC - Pharmacy First ServiceAttention Pharmacy Contractors - please be reminded that to qualify for the monthly fixed payment, all contractors delivering the Pharmacy First Service must also provide the Contraception Service and Blood Pressure Check Service by 31st March 2025, in addition to meeting the relevant consultation threshold. |
| The revised threshold for March is 30 clinical pathway consultations. Please remember that you only have 3 months to submit a claim after consultation, ie for March 2025 the last date is 5th June 2025. Click here. |
| Let’s Talk About Vaccines is a training session to help build confidence, skills and knowledge to open up discussions with patients about vaccination decisions. This online, interactive session is free to staff, students and volunteers across the South East. It will explore the issues, myths and barriers around vaccine hesitancy, providing you with the techniques and approaches to help people make informed choices. The training is available through March, book on BOB ICB’s Let’s Talk About Vaccines training page. |
CPPE have released their latest core workshops which include online and face to face events.
The workshops are open for booking now. For more details and to book your place, please refer to the embedded links in the attached flyer. |
| There is a training sessions available covering how to access the on demand and prebook-able translation services provided by Dals on Wednesday 2nd April (2-3pm). All previous interpretation services operating across BOB will cease on the 31st of March 2025. Click here. |
| You can now view the Data Security and Protection Toolkit workshop webinar on demand. Click here. |
| Oxfordshire’s Public Health team have recently commissioned DrinkCoach to offer a new online coaching service for residents aiming to reduce their alcohol consumption. The free service is available seven days a week including evenings and people can receive up to six 40-minute sessions. Coaching sessions can be booked directly via the DrinkCoach website. If you’d like any resources to help promote the new service, or if you have any questions, please email OCDP@oxfordshire.gov.uk See here for more information. |
| The next edition of the weekly Digest will be on 10th April 2025 |
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