Welcome to this weeks LPC e-bulletin. w/e 13.1.2017.

Be prepared to Survive & Thrive in The New Pharmacy Contract!

Somerset LPC are organising two events, one in Taunton & another in Yeovil for our contractors and pharmacy teams. These events are also open to locum and relief pharmacy colleagues.

We aim to focus on key areas to build on and help to sustain a successful pharmacy fit for the future, whilst supporting contractors with the Pharmacy contract changes.

THESE EVENTS WILL COVER FIVE KEY THEMES ON:

Pharmacy Services – Asthma Reliever Overuse, Quality Scheme, respiratory MUR and NMS.

NHS Urgent Medicine Supply Advanced Service (NUMSAS) – Introduction to the new service

Quality Payments - Planning and Administration.

Digital Integration – Summary Care Record and Quality Scheme, EPS and expanding the use of eRD.

Healthy Living Pharmacy – a guide to gain the HLP accreditation.

VENUES, DATES & TIMES Date: Tuesday 24th January 2017 – 18.30 for 19.00 start, expected finish time 21.30hrs. Venue: The Nags Head Tavern Thornfalcon, Taunton, Somerset TA3 5NW To book a place at this event, please use this link to the on-line booking system http://tinyurl.com/hqb2vvh

Date: Wednesday 25th January 2017 – 18.30 for 19.00 start, expected finish time 21.30hrs. Venue: YTFC Huish Park Stadium, Lufton Way, Yeovil, Somerset BA22 8YF

To book a place at this event, please use this link to the on-line booking system. http://tinyurl.com/jxymad6 Tea/coffee and a light buffet will be provided from 18.30 onwards. Alternatively, contact: mary.somersetlpc@gmail.com 07714214811 or yvonne.somersetlpc@gmail.com 07932952497 for immediate confirmation on your booking

Class 4 MHRA drug alert – Mirena 20 micrograms/24 hours intrauterine delivery system (Bayer plc).

Drug alert number: EL17(A)02 Date issued: 5th January 2017

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has issued a class 4 caution in use for a batch of:

Mirena 20 micrograms/24 hours intrauterine delivery system pack size 1 x 1 (Bayer plc)

PL number: 00010/0547

Batch number: TU01BPE

Expiry date: June 2019

Bayer plc has informed the MHRA that it has received two complaints globally concerning Mirena inserters with an insertion tube which is mounted inversely to the handle. This has resulted in inversion of the insertion depth scale, which may lead to incorrect insertion depth and the possibility of a reduced efficacy or adverse events. A very small number of Mirena inserters may potentially be affected by this issue.

An investigation has shown that both complaints involve one batch of inserters and Mirena batch TU01BPE has been manufactured using inserters from the same batch.

Any stock on hand from the above batch should be inspected to ensure that the insertion tube is mounted correctly. This can be done without opening the blister. Instructions on how to do this are included in the MHRA drug alert.

Any incorrectly mounted insertion tubes identified should be reported to Bayer plc by telephone, 01635 563116 or by email, medical.information@bayer.co.uk.

To view the alert please visit the MHRA website.

December 2016 Price Concessions/NCSO (update) December 22, 2016

The Department of Health has granted the following price concessions for December 2016: Full info click HERE

IG toolkit submission January 3, 2017

Community pharmacy contractors are reminded that the deadline for submitting this year’s information governance (IG) return is 31st March 2017. This seems far off but approaches quickly and is upon us before we know it.

Pharmacy contractors are encouraged to complete the IG toolkit sooner rather than later and to use this IG submission exercise as an opportunity to comprehensively review IG processes.

Further guidance and support is available at: psnc.org.uk/ig

Also, please don’t forget that primary care information governance reports are published and available in the public domain. Therefore, whilst the IG toolkit is primarily used to demonstrate to NHS England compliance with IG requirements in the terms of service, contractors can appreciate that patients looking for suitable providers of pharmaceutical services can use IG scoring as an objective means of assessing the likelihood that a contractor will provide highly quality pharmaceutical services.

The NMS/MUR quarterly information for quarter 3 ending 31st December 2016 is now required. You will need to submit NMS/MUR quarterly data relating to October 2016 to December 2016 to the NHSBSA during the first 10 working days of January 2017. Please find below details of how to submit your information via the online tool. The online tool is similar to the way the CPAF survey is completed and can be accessed via the NHSBSA website http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/PrescriptionServices/5539.aspx Please enter all of the information that you would normally enter into the reporting templates. This will be automatically uploaded into our system. The online tool is the easiest way to submit your information to the NHSBSA, however should you wish to use the electronic reporting templates these can also be found on the NHSBSA website on the above link and you will need to be upload the completed documents via the NHS BSA Information Services Portal. If you are not already registered for the portal instructions on how to register can be found on the same webpage. If you are already registered for the portal and wish to submit your information via the system please contact the NHSBSA at nhsbsa.help@nhs.net<mailto:nhsbsa.help@nhs.net> and your account will be updated. Please be aware that if you do not submit the data within the first 10 working days of the quarter you will be contacted by your NHS England local team. More information and user guides are available on the NHSBSA website http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/PrescriptionServices/5539.aspx

Reminder: Final batch of SCR briefing events announced

January 4, 2017 Community pharmacy teams are being encouraged to book onto the final Summary Care Record (SCR) briefing events before they miss the opportunity to attend free training in their area.

10% of community pharmacies have not yet sent a representative to attend an NHS Digital approved face-to-face briefing event. Before a pharmacy can begin accessing SCR, one member of staff needs to have attended an event.

Once the pharmacy has gone live, it then becomes eligible for a one-off SCR allowance of £200. Community pharmacy contractors only have until 31st March 2017 to start accessing SCR to trigger this £200 payment. So, if your pharmacy hasn’t yet sent a representative to an approved SCR event, make sure you send someone as the final round of events are now being organised.

NHS Digital have announced they are holding sessions throughout January and February 2017 across the Midlands, East, Lancashire and Yorkshire regions. Approved locally organised events are also scheduled for London, Halton, Essex, Leeds and the South.

Before attending an event, it is useful to ensure you have completed all of the items possible on the SCR implementation checklist – in particular the CPPE SCR module, and the Acceptable Use Agreement form.

Please refer to psnc.org.uk/SCRtraining for more information and links to the training dates and venues. It is expected almost all the dates have now been confirmed – although there may be one or two further January/February events announced for the South. Information will be updated as more dates are added by NHS Digital.

The latest statistics from NHS Digital showed that more than half of community pharmacies in England (6,000) have accessed SCR.

If you have already attended a face-to-face event but are not yet using SCR, then PSNC has created an implementation checklist to help explain the steps in the go-live process.

For further information and resources on SCR, visit psnc.org.uk/scr.

Your Health

We aim to ensure health services are available for you when you become ill, but we also want to help you to help yourself.

There is a range of free health services on your doorstep. Choosing the right one will ensure you receive the best possible treatment, allowing busy services like hospital Emergency Departments (A&E) to concentrate on helping those most in need.

http://www.somersetccg.nhs.uk/your-health/

DH issues Influenza Season 2016/17: Use of Antiviral Medicines letter December 19, 2016 The Department of Health (DH) has via its Central Alerting System published a letter advising that due to increasing flu levels in the community, GPs and other prescribers working in primary care in England may now prescribe antiviral medicines for the prophylaxis and treatment of flu at NHS expense.

Prescribers may prescribe for patients in ‘clinical at-risk’ groups as well as those who are at risk of severe illness and/or compilations from flu if not treated, in accordance with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidance and the Selected List Scheme (SLS) in Part XVIIIB of the England and Wales Drug Tariff.

Community pharmacy contractors who receive FP10 NHS prescriptions – written generically or by brand – for oseltamivir (Tamiflu) or zanamivir (Relenza), the antivirals included in the SLS list, are therefore reminded that prescriptions for these products must be endorsed ‘SLS’. If the ‘SLS’ endorsement is missing, the prescription should not be dispensed and will not be passed for payment by NHS Prescription Services. Pharmacy staff cannot make the ‘SLS’ endorsement themselves.

The letter advises pharmacy teams to order stock only as needed and PSNC would urge contractors not to over order stocks of antiviral medicines. Over ordering could result in shortages in the supply chain. It is, however, important that oseltamivir for adults and children (aged 1 year or over) and zanamivir for adults are taken within 48 hours of onset of symptoms. Children 5 years and over and under 13 years of age should start taking zanamivir within 36 hours of onset of symptoms, to obtain maximum benefit.

DH also highlights the need for all frontline healthcare professionals to get vaccinated against flu and observe strict infection control measures. Pharmacy teams are reminded to continue to encourage as many eligible patients as possible to get vaccinated against flu before the pharmacy Flu Vaccination Service ends in March 2017.

Department of Health letter: Influenza season 2016/17: Use of Antiviral Medicines

NUMSAS ‘registration’ now open! December 4, 2016 #pharmacychanges

Community pharmacy contractors are now able to notify NHS England of their intention to provide the NHS Urgent Medicine Supply Advanced Service (NUMSAS pilot) by completing the notification form available on the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) website.

All contractors that meet the requirements set out in the service specification for the NUMSAS, including the requirement that the pharmacy has a shared NHSmail mailbox, are now able to register; however, contractors will only be able to receive referrals from NHS 111 and provide the service when the service goes live in the contractor’s area (there is a phased rollout for the service, further details can be found at: psnc.org.uk/numsas). We would also advise contractors to read PSNC’s advice on the NUMSAS before they decide whether they wish to provide the service. The electronic form on the NHS BSA website asks for the Pharmacy Organisation Code; this is the ODS or F code for the pharmacy that is used on the end of month submission to the Pricing Authority.

Upcoming PHE campaigns: pre-order your toolkits!

Public Health England (PHE) will be launching three new campaigns in January 2017 and is encouraging community pharmacy teams to support with promoting the campaigns to patients and the public. The campaigns are outlined below.

One You: New Year, New You This national campaign aims to leverage the natural uplift in people’s interest in making healthy changes during the new year period and re-deploy the proven and highly successful ‘How Are You?’ health engagement quiz used during the One You campaign launch.

Smokefree January This campaign aims to encourage people to quit smoking in the New Year. The Smokefree support tools from PHE are designed to complement any smoking cessation activity or advice given during January.

Sepsis PHE will be running a national campaign to support earlier diagnosis of Sepsis by improving knowledge of the infection, its symptoms and when to seek urgent healthcare advice, amongst parents/carers of children aged 0-4.

PHE has developed toolkits for each of these campaigns that pharmacy teams may wish to use when raising awareness and disseminating information.

To get involved, toolkits can be pre-ordered by calling 0300 123 1019. The order line will be open Monday to Friday, from 8am to 6pm, until March 2017 or whilst stocks last. Helping parents spot the signs of sepsis - Sepsis awareness campaign will help parents and carers of young children recognize the symptoms of sepsis. Link

Quality Payments Scheme support from PharmOutcomes December 19, 2016

Community pharmacy contractors are now able to access support on PharmOutcomes for the Quality Payments Scheme. This support is available to all contractors as PSNC has agreed to use their licence to provide access to the Quality Payments Scheme framework and asthma referrals tool on PharmOutcomes.

Quality Payments Scheme framework

A Quality Payments Scheme framework has been created on PharmOutcomes, which will allow contractors to track their progress with achieving the Quality Payment criteria. The assessment also contains links to the PSNC website to provide contractors with additional information on each criterion and links to other PharmOutcomes services to assist contractors with collating evidence. Once a contractor has logged into PharmOutcomes, the framework can be accessed by clicking on the ‘Assessments’ tab on the PharmOutcomes homepage

Quality Payment criterion: asthma referrals tool

An asthma referral tool has also been created to assist contractors in meeting the Quality Payment criterion, ‘On the day of the review, the pharmacy can show evidence of asthma patients, for whom more than 6 short acting bronchodilator inhalers were dispensed without any corticosteroid inhaler within a 6 month period, are referred to an appropriate health care professional for an asthma review’.

The PharmOutcomes tool allows contractors to record patient details who have consented to be referred to their GP practice because of them having been dispensed more than 6 short acting bronchodilator inhalers without any corticosteroid inhaler within a 6 month period. When this data is saved on PharmOutcomes a referral will automatically be sent to the patient’s GP practice (if a secure email address is held for that GP practice on PharmOutcomes).

Once a contractor has logged into PharmOutcomes, the tool can be accessed by clicking on the ‘Services’ tab on the PharmOutcomes homepage.

PharmOutcomes log in details

If a contractor has not used PharmOutcomes before, log in details can be obtained by sending a message to the PharmOutcomes helpdesk. Contractors will need to provide details of the pharmacy, contact information and an email address to issue the login details to.

Quality Payments – Requesting an NHSmail account for your pharmacy December 29, 2016

Community pharmacy contractors that wish to take part in the Quality Payments Scheme must:

1. have an NHSmail account for their pharmacy by the review points (28th April 2017 and 24th November 2017) at which they wish to make a Quality Payments Scheme claim; or

2. for the purposes of the 28th April 2017 review point, have evidence that they have applied for an NHSmail account by 1st February 2017.

NHS England and NHS Digital have today announced that contractors that wish to apply for an NHSmail account for their pharmacy, to meet the requirement in point 2 above, can do so by emailing the following information to nhspharmacy.registration@nhs.net (by 1st February 2017):

Trading name of pharmacy; Owner’s name; Address, including postcode (for the premises the NHSmail address will apply to); Pharmacy ODS code (F code); Pharmacy telephone number; and Current pharmacy email address.

Contractors with multiple pharmacies may submit this information via one email, providing details for each pharmacy premises. For this reason, pharmacy teams working within multiple pharmacy groups may want to check with their head office before requesting an NHSmail address for their pharmacy.

Already have an NHSmail account for your pharmacy?

Some pharmacies already have an NHSmail account for their pharmacy. This may be a shared mailbox, which users log into using a personal NHSmail account, or it may be an NHSmail account which has been created for the pharmacy using a personal NHSmail account. NHS England and NHS Digital want all pharmacies to have shared mailboxes which can only be accessed by authorised users who log in using their personal NHSmail account.

If you already have a shared mailbox – NHS Digital will put in place a process in 2017 to ensure all such shared mailboxes are modified so that they conform to the approach now being taken to creating new pharmacy shared mailboxes. Further details on this process will be released in due course – no action needs to be taken by contractors with an existing shared mailbox at this time.

If you already have a pharmacy NHSmail account, but it is not a shared mailbox – follow the above process to request a shared mailbox. NHS Digital will publish guidance on what should be done with your existing NHSmail account in due course.

Next steps

In January 2017, further details will be requested from contractors that have submitted a request for an NHSmail account, in order to allow the creation of a pharmacy shared NHSmail account and individual NHSmail accounts for staff, including regular locum staff, that will be needed to access the pharmacy’s shared NHSmail account. Further information on NHSmail can be found at: psnc.org.uk/nhsmail Further information on the Quality Payments Scheme can be found at: psnc.org.uk/quality

Quality Payments – How to become a Dementia Friend

This PSNC Briefing provides an overview of how to achieve the Dementia Friends criterion of the Quality Payment (QP) scheme. Further information on the QP scheme can be found in PSNC Briefing 067/16: Quality Payments – what pharmacy contractors need to do.

PSNC Briefing 073/16: Quality Payments – How to become a Dementia Friend

If you have any queries on this PSNC Briefing or you require more information, please contact Zainab Al-Kharsan, Service Development Pharmacist.

To browse other PSNC briefings on services and commissioning click here.

Easter Dates 2017 – Get Prepared Dates for next Easter are Good Friday: 14 April, Easter Sunday: 16 April and Easter Monday: 17 April. If you are expecting to make any changes to opening hours during this period, we would like to remind you that any changes to supplementary hours for this time requires 3 months’ notice (by Friday 13 January 2017). Change forms are available on our web site HERE and these should be returned to our generic pharmacy mail box.

Getting prepared for what you can expect to be asked at the close of the campaign on the 12.01.17… For Decembers Stay Well campaign, running from the 01.12.16 through to the 12.01.17, you will be asked to keep a record of the following outcomes to record within your final evaluation on PharmOutcomes. The full evaluation should now be available for all pharmacies to view on PharmOutcomes as ‘read only’ and will be open for completion by pharmacies on the 12.01.17, for 2 weeks until the 26.01.17. Total number of conversations regarding the Stay Well campaign occurred within the pharmacy? How many of your total amount of conversations about the Stay Well campaign occurred during a MUR or NMS consultation? How many patients, because of your conversations re. Stay Well, did you refer to another healthcare provider e.g. GP, ED for further consultation and/or treatment? Details of any ‘good news stories’ resulting from the Stay Well campaign. For all pharmacies: Public Health England (PHE) have a suite of online resources to ensure a successful campaign that can be utilised, in addition to those materials provided which can be found on the PHE website HERE. Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) Token Submission. November 21, 2016

A reminder to contractors regarding the submission of EPS tokens. When sending EPS tokens for the 5th of the following month, contractors should be sending all chargeable tokens and non-age related tokens only. The NHS BSA do not require age exempt EPS tokens. The D.O.B. on the prescription is contained in the EPS message and so is automatically checked to determine if a prescription charge should be deducted. Therefore, submission of the age exempt token is not necessary.

For further information, please see psnc.org.uk/epstokensubmission.

Essential EPS Checklist Part 2 of 2 (December 2016) December 8, 2016

This briefing is a checklist to help pharmacy teams to get the most out of Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) Release 2. PSNC Briefing 070.16 Essential EPS checklist part 2 of 2

The previous checklist (part 1) in this two-part series was made available back in November 2016. If you have any queries on this PSNC Briefing or you require more information, please contact Daniel Ah-Thion, EPS Lead. To browse other PSNC briefings on EPS, click here.

View Article…

Quality Points Funding for Community Pharmacy Awarded for Access to Summary Care Record (SCR)

Beginning in 2017/18, £75 million of the CPCF funding will be allocated to Quality Payments. At two specific review points during the year, pharmacies will need to declare which of the various criteria they are compliant with in order to accumulate quality points. A total of 100 points will be available during 2017/18, and payment will be made to eligible contractors depending on how many points they have achieved. The value per point is expected to be set at £64. Full funding information can be accessed HERE. One of the criteria is using Summary Care Record and increasing usage between the review points – see PDF briefing attached. If your pharmacy has not attended either of the two previous SCR training events this year, there may be a further opportunity in December for you to do so and pharmacies (who have not already attended a session) may receive an invitation shortly to attend. The PSNC have some useful Webinars re. SCR which can be accessed via their website HERE should you require further information.

CPPE Events

CPPE is funded by Health Education England to provide CPD for pharmacists, pre-registration pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. The events are FREE and you can attend a CPPE workshop in any area.

To book a workshop, log in to the CPPE website: www.cppe.ac.uk (login and click on 'Book a workshop') or email: info@cppe.ac.uk . Alternatively, telephone CPPE on 0161 778 4000 quoting the event number and your GPhC number.

Event title: EHC Public Health (workshop to include safeguarding) Yeovil Town Football Club BA22 8YF Time: 7:15pm - 9:45pm - - Date: Thursday 2nd February 2017 Event ID: 5802.

CPPE’s mental health e-course returns this month January 5, 2017

The Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education (CPPE) will be relaunching its interactive e-course on mental health later this month.

The aim of the course is to equip the learner with the knowledge, skills and confidence to support people with mental illness using a person-centred approach.

The course will cover common mental health conditions in general and how they are managed, and explore new ways to improve outcomes for people with mental illness. The topic of mental illness in older people as well as children and young adults will also be included in the e-course.

The tutor-supported course starts on 23rd January 2017 and will last eight weeks.

Visit the CPPE website for more information and to book your place on the e-course.

Reminder: Claiming payment for the national Flu Vaccination Service

Community pharmacy contractors who have provided the national flu service are reminded of they need to claim payment for the service and reimbursement of vaccine costs as part of the end of month prescription bundle submission process.

The claim is made by submitting a completed copy of the Community Pharmacy Seasonal Influenza Vaccination claim form to the Pricing Authority with the pharmacy’s prescription bundle.

Please ensure you are using the correct claim form (v3). Contractors who printed the NHS BSA claim form before 6th September 2016 should be aware that the form was subsequently updated by NHS BSA. The correct form is available on the PSNC and NHS BSA websites and must be used to claim payment.

Several local NHS England teams have provided IT support via PharmOutcomes or Sonar for recording flu vaccinations administered in pharmacies and for sending an automatic notification to the patient’s GP. However, please note that use of these systems does not automatically make a claim for payment; the systems may allow you to print off a completed copy of the claim form to include in the prescription bundle sent to the Pricing Authority or they may provide the information to allow you to fill in a copy of the claim form.

To receive payment, the claim form must be submitted to the Pricing Authority with the pharmacy’s prescription bundle no later than the 5th day of the month following that in which the vaccination was administered.

Please note, the following amendments to the EHC section of the LPC website has been made: under Commissioned Services In order to supply EHC in Somerset, a CPPE Declaration of Competence needs to be completed and signed and kept in the pharmacy for inspection (no longer sent to Public Health) Process For Declaration Of Competence EHC PGD Sept 2016 process-for-doc Summary of Somerset Training Requirements For Levonelle PGD training-requirements-for-levonelle

Kind regards

Mary.

Somerset LPC - Information on all our news and events can be found via our website and

Calendar: http://psnc.org.uk/somerset-lpc/lpc-information/calendar/

Mary Pennington Administration Officer Somerset LPC Tel: +44(0)7714214811

Email: mary.somersetlpc@gmail.com Please note I generally work for the LPC on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings, but will endeavour to return emails outside of these times where possible.

Visit our website: www.psnc.org.uk/somerset-lpc