| Weekly News Digest - 9th January 2025 |
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RESERVE YOUR PLACE NOW! CPPE are running a face to face, 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. |
The Emergency Hormonal Contraception (EHC) Service Contract, starting in April 2025, has been shared with pharmacies via PharmOutcomes. To enhance the availability of this important service across the Reading Borough and West Berkshire Council areas, we need your support. Currently, our service offerings are limited, and expanding our network will provide residents with more choices and better access to essential healthcare. The LPC has secured a 50% increase in remuneration for the EHC Service across East Berkshire, including pharmacies in Bracknell, Slough, and RBWM. Responses to sign up for the service have been low, so your participation as a pharmacy is vital in making this possible. Please read and accept the message on PharmOutcomes to join this initiative. For detailed service specifications and Patient Group Directions (PGDs), please see here. |
| NHS England has introduced the Manage Your Service (MYS) portal for notifying unplanned temporary service suspensions. Pharmacy owners must have a business continuity plan for such suspensions and notify the Integrated Care Board (ICB) when they occur. The MYS portal allows digital notifications and entries can be updated for 7 days post-submission. While the MYS portal is optional, hard-copy notifications via Annex 18 on the NHS England website are still accepted. For more details, visit the NHS England website. |
| Please note that to change your pharmacy opening hours at least five weeks’ notice must be given by pharmacy contractors. If you are seeking to reduce the total number of supplementary opening hours you are required to inform the integrated care board. For confirmation of your pharmacy hours contact: frimleyicb.southeastcommunitypharmacy@nhs.net |
| GP colleagues and pharmacists are being reminded to apply caution when prescribing or dispensing two similar sounding medications. Surrey and Borders NHS Partnership Trust (SABP) has highlighted incidents where Promazine, an anti-psychotic medication, and similar sounding promethazine, an antihistamine medication, have been accidentally confused and therefore incorrectly prescribed by clinicians outside of the Trust. The two medications are known as ‘look alike sound alike’ (LASA) medications. As well as having similar sounding names, similarities can also sometimes be compounded by other factors such as similar packaging, tablet appearance and tablet strength. Click here. |
| Community Pharmacy England has published a briefing outlining several regulatory changes to improve dispensing efficiency and support clinical services. New guidelines include: Original Pack Dispensing +/- 10% for NHS dispensing, Hub and Spoke legislation expected in late 2025, and new Supervision legislation with no set date. The current supervision rules and GPhC regulation encourage pharmacies to maximize clinical skills and utilize remote and automated dispensing technologies. Click here. |
Resources to support Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. Click on the link to find information for healthcare professionals and the public to raise awareness of this disease: Cervical Cancer Awareness Month.
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| Did you know that people of Black African, African-Caribbean, or South Asian heritage are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes? Dr. Joan St John, a specialist GP, highlights the widespread lack of understanding of diabetes. In her blog, she shares tips on managing the condition and the importance of early detection and open discussions. For the full details, check out Millions of people have diabetes but how much do you know about it? |
Read the latest articles in the myth busting series to tackle some of the misconceptions around Pharmacy First. The articles will cover a variety of aspects of Pharmacy First and aims to myth bust e.g.
"I can accept a Pharmacy First Minor illness electronic referral for a blood pressure check". Wrong! A Pharmacy First Minor illness electronic referral should not result in the need for a blood pressure check. See here for all the myth busting tips in series #5 and series #6. |
The revised threshold for January is 25 clinical pathway consultations. Please remember that you only have 3 months to submit a claim after consultation, ie for January 2025 the last date is 5th April 2025. Click 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. |
Public Health Oxfordshire County Council in collaboration with Community Pharmacy Thames Valley will be holding an online event on Thursday, 6th February 2025 from 7.30pm-8.30pm. Opioid-related deaths in England have surged in the past decade, necessitating the widespread availability of naloxone, with community pharmacies providing a first point of contact for people seeking help with drug use themselves or for a relative/friend/client, and can be key providers of take-home naloxone.
The event is open to all practising Community Pharmacists and registered Pharmacy Technicians working within Oxfordshire. The aim is to increase awareness of synthetic opioids, understand available support services and harm reduction interventions, learn how to access these services and manage risks, gain knowledge about take-home naloxone, relevant legislation, distribution services in Oxfordshire, and safety measures and how to join and effectively deliver the Oxfordshire Community Pharmacy Take-Home Naloxone pilot service. Attendees will be presented with Certificates of Completion and will then have met the training requirement for delivery of the Take Home Naloxone pilot service Register here.
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| Fully funded places are still available on the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education (CPPE) programme designed to help community pharmacy technicians enhance their skills and boost confidence. Developed in partnership with NHS England's Pharmacy Integration Programme, this course supports effective service delivery in community pharmacies. If you are a community pharmacy technician looking to advance your role, you can apply now. Find our more and how to apply for the CPPE community pharmacy technician: advancing your role learning programme |
Free training session on 21st January for non-clinical professionals. Learn to have impactful 30-second conversations to support Oxon smokers in quitting. The 2-hour session is online via Teams, book via Eventbrite. Get up-to-date guidance on vapes for both clinical and non-clinical professionals. Book the one-hour online sessions through the link on the poster or contact Tom at NCSCT. See here for booking details. |
| Earlier this year, the Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS) launched a podcast series addressing issues and myths about the Pharmacy First service. The series features pharmacy colleagues and clinical experts discussing the seven clinical conditions, plus an episode on paediatrics. Click here. |
FREE training courses for pharmacy professionalsThe LPC subscribes to the Virtual Outcomes training platform, granting our pharmacies access to an array of online training resources. To get started, simply enter your ODS Code using the link below. |
To view all events please visit Community Pharmacy Thames Valley website |
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