| Weekly News Digest - 29th August 2024 |
|
NHS England has recently written to all community pharmacy owners about the eligible groups for COVID-19 vaccinations and the schedule for the autumn/winter programme.
The groups to be offered a COVID-19 vaccine in autumn/winter 2024/25 are:- residents in a care home for older adults;
- all adults aged 65 years and over;
- persons aged 6 months to 64 years in a clinical risk group, as defined in tables 3 and 4 of the COVID-19 chapter of the UK Health Security Agency Green Book on immunisation against infectious disease; and
- frontline health and social care workers and staff working in care homes for older adults. ( NHS England are asking to signpost these staff to the most convenient C-19 vaccinations offer, which may be through NBS).
Please NOTE the start date for all eligible patients (except pregnant women) is the 3rd October 2024. Any vaccinations carried out before this date will NOT be reimbursed.
For full information click here.
|
Join the National Booking System for Flu AppointmentsThis Autumn, all flu-only community pharmacies can now use the National Booking System (NBS) to offer flu appointments. If you are interested and don’t already have NBS access through the COVID-19 vaccination service, please fill out the NBS Flu Form by 1 September 2024. You will require your pharmacy ODS code (starting with F) and the names and secure email addresses of two pharmacy representatives. Make sure the email addresses are from the authorised list here: The secure email standard - NHS England Digital. Following registration, you will receive login details, training info and more instructions. For questions, contact: england.vacspolicyandcontracts@nhs.net.
|
Read the August edition of the Drug Safety Update monthly newsletter covering topics: Yellow Card Biobank study: call to support intitiative to explore side effects with DOACs and allopurinol and a summary of medicine recall notifications.
|
Community Pharmacy England has released a report highlighting severe financial pressures on community pharmacies, which could lead to closures and impact patient care across England. The survey gathered insights from over 6,100 pharmacy owners and 2,000 team members, revealing significant challenges in funding and profitability. Read the Pharmacy Pressures Survey 2024
|
From September 2024, NHS England has announced that the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) will be extended to health services in prisons. This will enable prescribers in prisons to issue electronic ‘To Take Out’ (TTO) and urgent prescriptions to community pharmacies, eliminating the need for paper FP10 forms. Most people released from prison will have their current medications, so they may not need to collect their EPS prescription immediately. For further details click here.
|
| Following the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring that outbreaks in west and central Africa constitute a global health emergency, please read the latest guidance issued for all NHS service providers regarding Clade 1 mpox virus (MPXV) infection from UKHSA. |
| Read the latest legislation from the government which has now been extended to 26 November 2024. |
End of Life Training - 23rd September, 7.30-8.30pmSave the date! On 23rd September, from 7.30-8.30pm NHS Frimley is hosting an End of Life Care training webinar. Led by Palliative Care Consultate Cate Seaton-Jones from Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice, this session aims to equip you with essential skills to support patients and their carers at the end of life. More details and the webinar link will be provided soon. Don't miss this valuable opportunity!
|
CPPE Workshops for September to December 2024 are now available to book. These include: NHS Pharmacy First: Clinical assessment – essential skills, Asthma: optimising adherence to medicines, Atrial Fibrillation: improve detection and person-centred care, and COPD. For a full calendar and booking links, click here.
|
The NHS have funding for a further 40 community pharmacy places on the ACPT programme which is open to pharmacy technicians who are registered with the GPhC and meet the entry criteria detailed here. To find out more click here.
|
CPPE Leading for Change Programme - fully-funded 6 month leadership programme is open to pharmacists and pharmacy technicians working in community pharmacy. There will be two cohorts starting in October. For more details and dates please click here.
|
The Faculty of Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH) are running a free webinar on 8th October 2024, 19.00-20.30pm, with a clinical update on Emergency Contraception, and showcase their upcoming ‘Essentials of Contraception for Pharmacy Professionals’ course. Click here for more details.
|
Your LPC-funded Virtual Outcomes online learning suite now includes modules on Hints, Tips and Learnings from the first few months of the Pharmacy First service, to help ensure that you are getting the most out of the service for your patients and your pharmacy; and Psoriasis. To access, enter your ODS code at: https://www.virtualoutcomes.co.uk/pharmacy-training/
|
The NHS have funding for a further 40 community pharmacy places on the ACPT programme which is open to pharmacy technicians who are registered with the GPhC and meet the entry criteria detailed here. To find out more click here.
|
This fully-funded 6 month leadership programme is open to pharmacists and pharmacy technicians working in community pharmacy. There will be two cohorts starting in October. For more details and dates please click here.
|
|
|
|
.jpg)