| Weekly News Digest - 19th December 2024 |
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| The LPC recently secured a 50% increase in remuneration of the EHC Service across East Berkshire (Pharmacies within Bracknell, Slough and RBWM). Requests for Pharmacies to take part in this very important service were recently sent out, but responses have been low. We realise how busy how you all are that this time of year, but would appreciate a high level of participation from those Community Pharmacies in East Berkshire. See here for service specification and PGDs. |
| Public Health Oxfordshire County Council invites Oxfordshire-based community pharmacies to sign up for the Take-home Naloxone Service. With potent synthetic opioids, like nitazenes, appearing more frequently in local drug supplies, it's crucial to expand access to take-home naloxone. Evidence shows that naloxone can effectively reverse the effects of these potent synthetic opioids, making it essential for those at risk but not in contact with treatment. Full details of this service are available in the attached service specification. For any questions or to sign up, please contact Ify Enemuo at Ify.Enemuo@Oxfordshire.gov.uk or call 07554 103332. |
| Attached are the Christmas & New Year 2024-25 Bank Holiday Posters for Southeast England, listing pharmacies open on Bank Holidays with their opening hours. A map of these pharmacies is also available at the provided link. Please share with your teams. Click here. |
| Visit our website to view a very useful webinar detailing the acute otitus media clinical pathway. |
| Based on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advice, the NHS will plan a seasonal COVID-19 vaccination programme for spring 2025. The cohorts include adults aged 75 and over, care home residents, and immunosuppressed individuals. Those turning 75 by 17 June 2025 and new care home residents or newly immunosuppressed by that date will also be eligible. Final decisions on the autumn 2025 and spring 2026 cohorts are pending. Click here. |
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| Layla Moran, MP for West Oxford and Abingdon, and the new Chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee, visited owner Ben Sherwood and David Dean, Chief Officer, Community Pharmacy Thames Valley at Sherwood Pharmacy in Abingdon. They discussed key challenges in Community Pharmacy: Urgent funding needs; as many pharmacies risk closure without immediate intervention, supply chain issues and expanding Pharmacy First; which can only succeed with proper funding and consistent digital referrals from GPs. We would like to say a big "Thank you" to Ben for hosting and sharing his dedication to patient care and look forward to seeing Layla Moran support Community Pharmacy with a robust plan. |
| Pharmacy inspections are crucial for ensuring safe and effective pharmacy care. The GPhC are updating their approach to include shorter, focused inspections and established full inspections for efficiency. Inspectors may switch to full inspections as needed, with first-time inspections always being full. Changes will begin in January 2025, including targeted inspections for high-risk areas, timely re-inspections, flexible approaches for newly-registered pharmacies, and clearer inspection reports. Click here. |
NHS England has announced that multi-sector rotations will not be mandatory for the 2026/27 Foundation Pharmacist Training Programme. Multi-sector rotations require at least 13 weeks of training in different pharmacy areas. Due to current pressures on pharmacy teams and the healthcare sector, mandatory rotations will be delayed, and a phased approach will be implemented instead. Click here. |
The GPhC standards for your reflective account for revalidation in 2025 have been set. The standards from 1 January to 31 December 2025 are: 1. Pharmacy professionals must provide person-centred care. 2. Pharmacy professionals must work in partnership with others. 3. Pharmacy professionals must use their professional judgement. For more information and support with completion this please visit the GPhC website. |
| CPPE are conducting our annual survey to gather your input on new learning programmes for the CPPE portfolio, which should take no more than 10 minutes. You can access the survey using the provided link. Closing date: 12 January 2025. |
| The revised threshold for December is 20 clinical pathway consultations. Please remember that you only have 3 months to submit a claim after consultation, ie for December 2024 the last date is 5th March 2025. |
| Please ensure that your DoS and NHS.UK profiles are updated before deadline 31st December 2024. This can be done via the NHS Profile Manager. Useful NHS Profile Manager Tutorials are available here. |
| Pharmacy teams providing Pharmacy First are asked to help promote the survey. Please encourage as many responses as possible, the survey has been designed to be quick and easy to complete; during testing, most patients took around two minutes to complete it. Please promote the survey using the provided resources. |
Join the NHS Pharmacy Contraception Service (PCS) Workshop. The workshop aims to support learners in shared decision-making for starting, restarting, or changing contraception within PCS, enhancing their consultation and communication skills. By completing the program, learners will be able to utilize person-centred consultation skills, assess the suitability of oral contraception based on individual needs, discuss contraception options for informed decisions, provide information on long-acting reversible contraceptives, and address concerns or side effects related to contraception. The event will be held on:
Sunday, 19th January 2025
10:30am -12:30pm
at the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Business Centre, Cookham, Maidenhead.
Don't miss out, reserve your place here using the booking code PcsCPTV0125 (case sensitive). Don't miss the postworkshop webinar for further insights for further information see here. |
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