March 2016 CPN

CPNCommunity Pharmacy News – March 2016

Campaign gathers momentum Pharmacy pulls together to raise awareness of the

potential threat to community healthcare

SCR rollout checklist | Local commissioning support | Prescriber codes guidance

2 Community Pharmacy News – March 2015

psnc’s work funDing anD statistics contract anD it

Following the Government’s announcement of its plans for the

future of community pharmacy, PSNC has worked with the other

national pharmacy organisations and its public affairs agency,

Luther Pendragon, to launch a campaign to protect the sector

and ultimately patients.

In the first phase of the campaign, PSNC has been coordinating

activity with other pharmacy organisations and providing

information and resources to help LPCs and contractors get

behind the campaign. PSNC has been warning about the threats

posed to pharmacy, and hence to patients and the public, as

well as pointing out the problems and risks with the proposals

and asking for more clarity on them.

Collaboration with others

In January, the pharmacy

organisations agreed to

establish a steering group

including representatives

from PSNC, Pharmacy

Voice, the National

Pharmacy Association

(NPA), the Royal

Pharmaceutical Society

(RPS), the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies and

the Company Chemists’ Association.

The steering group oversees the communications and public

affairs work related to the response to the proposed changes to

community pharmacy. It monitors ongoing and planned work,

helping to ensure that all work is as coordinated as possible as it

is really important that pharmacy's response to the proposals is

consistent.

As well as the steering group, the communications and public

affairs leads from all the pharmacy organisations are working

very closely together. The group has worked together on a

range of campaign activities including agreeing the wording of

the paper petition against the changes; aligning social media

activity; setting up email signatures and campaign resource

hubs; and preparing for the action day on 24th March (see page

opposite).

Political lobbying

A key focus for all the

pharmacy organisations

has been the lobbying

of MPs about the

proposed changes, and

pharmacy teams and

LPCs have a vital role to

play in helping this work

at a constituent level.

To help with this PSNC

has produced a range of

resources including a template briefing for MPs. PSNC can also

give advice to pharmacy teams and LPCs to help with this work.

PSNC has also been lobbying particular MPs and peers at a

national level; with a series of meetings arranged to talk them

through our concerns and service proposals, and to suggest

ways in which they might be able to help. This has led to a

number of MPs asking Parliamentary questions, writing letters

to pharmacy minister Alistair Burt and supporting the campaign

in other ways.

PSNC and LPCs also worked hard to brief a number of MPs ahead

of a Parliamentary debate on pharmacy in Westminster Hall on

23rd February. A summary of this very constructive debate is

available as PSNC Briefing 016/16 at: psnc.org.uk/briefings.

In March, PSNC, Pharmacy Voice and the RPS will jointly host

evening briefings with Conservative and Labour MPs to discuss

the changes and their thoughts on them in more detail. The

three organisations are also working to align party conference

activity later in the year.

Campaign to protect community pharmacy's futureWork continues to prevent the Government plans from damaging patient

care. Here we update community pharmacy teams on the latest

developments in the sector’s campaigning work.

PSNC’s public responses

17th December:Initial statement saying that the announcement has

delivered a financial blow to community pharmacy;

highlighting the efficiencies consistently made by

contractors; and stressing the impact that cutting funding

will have in directing more people to GPs and urgent care. 20162015

JanuaryDecember

15th January:PSNC response to 17th December letter published.

The letter sets out a number of concerns and

questions about the proposed changes. The letter

states that the Government appears to have settled on

a course of action that runs counter to its stated

ambition to develop a clinically focussed community

pharmacy service. And the letter confirms that PSNC

will not enter into negotiations until the Government

has shared further details of its plans.

PSNC has now issued a number of public statements on the changes.

These are summarised here.

What others have been doing

Representatives from across the sector were making the case for community pharmacy to the

public in London last month. On 26th February, PSNC staff and committee members joined LPC

members, community pharmacy contractors and NPA and Pharmacy Voice representatives at an

action day organised by the NPA. The team hosted a stand at the Elephant and Castle shopping

centre, using it to speak to members of the public about community pharmacy’s future and to

gain signatures for the paper petition. Signatures collected were then presented to the

Department of Health. To find out more about the petitions visit: psnc.org.uk/campaign.

What you can do

1. Show your support by adding a promotional piece to your email signature. Find the template created by PSNC and the other

national pharmacy bodies on the "How can you help?" page of PSNC’s campaign hub (psnc.org.uk/campaign).

2. Use #lovemypharmacy on social media to share stories of how you and your pharmacy team have gone out of your way to

help patients.

3. Collect case studies that demonstrate where you have offered exceptional care to patients. These can be emailed to

[email protected].

4. Ask your patients to sign the paper petition (which can be downloaded from the supportyourlocalpharmacy.org website)

and to contact their MP.

Upcoming work – 24th March

The cross pharmacy steering and communications group is jointly working on a raft of activity to

take place during the week beginning 21st March. This includes press work and a day of action

taking place on Thursday 24th March (the day before Good Friday). The action day will see a real

push in community pharmacies to gain signatures for the campaign petition as well as increased

social media activity to gather case studies of exceptional community pharmacy care.

Further resources

PSNC has set up a campaign hub (psnc.org.uk/campaign) and a campaign email address

([email protected]) in order to give contractors and LPCs easy access to information and

resources and a place to ask questions and share positive stories and case studies. A flyer

highlighting the value of community pharmacy and including information on PSNC’s service

development proposals has also been produced (PSNC Briefing 018/16 at psnc.org.uk/briefings),

plus guidance is under development for LPCs on organising local campaigning events.

Next steps

PSNC is continuing with the programme of meetings with MPs and peers to build support for

community pharmacy and for our concerns about the proposals for changes. PSNC will also

continue to support LPCs in their local activity and to keep them updated on developments. PSNC

is in discussion with Pharmacy Voice and the NPA about which patient organisations to approach

for additional support, as well as to decide how to collate case studies and use them to best

effect to help make the sector’s case.

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Getting involved in the campaign

February

22nd January:PSNC published an update for contractors following a

number of developments including the publication of

the Department of Health's briefing presentation on

the changes and the comment from pharmacy

minister Alistair Burt that as many as 3,000

pharmacies could close. PSNC set out its response to

the individual proposals, stating that it could not

accept proposals that will jeopardise the services and

supplies that pharmacies provide to their patients.

24th February:PSNC held the first of two

contractor events, in

Birmingham, to give contractors

information about the proposals

and the response to them; and

to encourage them to get

involved in the campaign. The

second event was held in

London on 10th March.

9th February:PSNC service proposals published. These set out a

plan for community pharmacy services including

the introduction of a care package, which would

see repeat dispensing becoming a default option

where medicines are needed on a long-term basis,

patient registration at pharmacies, and pharmacies

offering enhanced medicines optimisation

services. PSNC's proposals can be found at:

psnc.org.uk/campaign.

PrescriptionCharge Card2016Each year PSNC provides a

Prescription Charge Card for

community pharmacies in

England which is designed to

be used as a poster. At the time

Community Pharmacy News

(CPN) went to press the

Department of Health had not

confirmed what the charge

would be from April 2016; we

hope to have this finalised in

time to include the poster with

CPN, but look out for updates

at: psnc.org.uk

4 Community Pharmacy News – March 2015

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Summary Care Record updateThe rollout of Summary Care Records (SCR) to community pharmacies

across England continues. At the beginning of March 2016, over 430

pharmacies had completed rollout and had SCR access.

How can you get SCR access in your community pharmacy?

In order to go live with SCR, at least one person from each

community pharmacy must attend a face to face

‘Implementation Briefing Session’. Please note this

requirement is per community pharmacy, not per

contractor/company.

Other requirements are mentioned within the

implementation checklist on the page opposite.

The following contractors are providing Implementation

Briefing Sessions internally within their company, with

details of the sessions being sent directly to their

pharmacies:

Lloydspharmacy, Boots, Tesco, Safedale Ltd, Manor

Pharmacy, Dean & Smedley, Knights, Cohen’s Group,

Superdrug, Morrisons, H.I Weldrick Ltd and Kamsons.

The Health & Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) has

advised that Day Lewis and Rowlands have already

completed briefing sessions for their pharmacies.

For staff who work in all other community pharmacies, the

Implementation Briefing Sessions will be provided on a local,

geographical basis, and you will be informed of these

through local communication channels (generally via your

LPC and local NHS England team).

The March 2016 Drug Tariff notified

community pharmacy contractors that to

support the implementation of the

Summary Care Record (SCR) to community

pharmacies, they will be paid an allowance

of £200 from 1st March 2016, subject to

certain conditions being met.

The £200 allowance will be triggered

when the pharmacy contractor has

submitted the SCR in Community

Pharmacy Usage Agreement to the Health

& Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC)

and accessed the SCR. The allowance will

only be paid once, irrespective of any

subsequent premises merger, sale or

relocation. The allowance will be time-

limited and cease on 31st March 2017.

The relevant regulations which contractorsmust adhere to are set out in Schedules 4

and 7 of the National Health Service

(Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical

Services (England) (Amendment)Regulations 2016.

In order to receive the allowance pharmacy

contractors must fulfil a number of

requirements; these are specified within

the checklist on the page opposite.

PSNC comment on the SCR funding

“The costs that pharmacy contractors will

incur if they choose to rollout SCR access

will vary depending on the individual

pharmacy; the £200 payment to pharmacy

contractors included in the March 2016

Drug Tariff represents a contribution to

those costs. When the Secretary of State

for Health provided funding to NHS

England to enable SCR access in community

pharmacies, he made this conditional on

pharmacy contractors sharing the cost of

rollout with the NHS.”

Find out more about community pharmacyaccess to SCR at: psnc.org.uk/scr

Funding for rollout of SCR access

RegionLikely month offirst sessions

Central Midlands (Northampton and MiltonKeynes), Greater Manchester

Commenced inJanuary

North Midlands (Shropshire), South Central, SouthEast, South West, Wessex, Central Midlands (Luton,Bedfordshire and Leicestershire), West Midlands(Wolverhampton, Solihull, Worcestershire)

February

Central Midlands (remaining areas to start), NorthMidlands (Staffordshire), Cheshire & MerseysideCumbria & North East, East Midlands, WestMidlands (remaining areas to start), Yorkshire &Humber, Lancashire

March

London April

North Midlands (remaining areas to start) May

Each contractor will need to nominate a person responsible for

monitoring SCR activity; this person is termed the Privacy Officer.

Training on this role and how to access reports will also be provided

locally. Pharmacy Voice have recently issued a briefing paper on the

role of the Privacy Officer (tinyurl.com/scrprivacyoff) and further

guidance is available on the HSCIC website (tinyurl.com/hscicscrpo).

For further information on SCR and the implementation approach, as

well as confirmed timescales for the briefing sessions, please visit the

HSCIC website (tinyurl.com/hscicscr).

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lpcs psnc’s work funDing anD statisticshe healthcare lanDscape

Summary Care Record (SCR) implementation checklist

*These are required to be completed before a community pharmacy contractor can receive the £200 SCR allowance.

Smartcard roles are set up* – Staff accessing the SCR should have specific Smartcard roles

enabling access to the SCR. Locums who regularly work at a particular pharmacy can request the specificsite pharmacy role is added to their Smartcard (please visit: psnc.org.uk/sc)

Standard operating procedure (SOP) is in place* – The pharmacy team need an SCR

SOP. A template is available at: tinyurl.com/scrsop. SCR access could also be integrated into other SOPs.

Standard system settings are compliant* – The system must be compliant with the HSCIC

Warranted Environment Specification (WES), please visit: psnc.org.uk/wes

Face-to-face training event has been attended* – One person per site to have attended

a HSCIC or HSCIC approved face-to-face implementation briefing.

CPPE online training has been completed* – All pharmacists and pharmacy technicians

who will access the SCR must have completed the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education (CPPE)online SCR training module prior to accessing the SCR.

Privacy Officer has been appointed* – The Privacy Officer is responsible for auditing and

reviewing the SCR access.

Information Governance (IG) Toolkit has been submitted* – An IG Toolkit submission

must have been made within the last 12 months.

N3 connection is present* – If you are EPS-live this will be present already.

Trigger the payment of the allowance after confirming that the above stepshave been completed – Once the requirements above have been fulfilled a declaration

(tinyurl.com/scragreement) is made that the contractor and their team agree to comply with the on-going requirements for access to the SCR.

Access has been checked using test patient – The pharmacy team should check they can

access the SCR using the test NHS Numbers provided (these can be found in the sample SOP at:tinyurl.com/scrsop).

Patient information is available – The pharmacy team may choose to make patient

information materials (posters, leaflets) available at the pharmacy and on the pharmacy website(tinyurl.com/scrdocs)

SCR web address has been added to favourites – The pharmacy team may choose to add

the SCR URL to their desktop/favourites to make future access quick and easy. The URL required to accessthe SCR is: https://portal.national.ncrs.nhs.uk/portal/dt (please note a Smartcard is required).

Begin using the SCR – Pharmacy teams report that the SCR can be used as an alternative to

contacting the GP practice in some scenarios. The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has published a one-pagefactsheet which explains the scenarios in which to use the SCR (tinyurl.com/scrscenarios). The decision asto when to use SCR is a professional one.

North: [email protected]

Midlands: [email protected]

London & South:[email protected]

For further details on SCR implementation please contact your regional SCR implementation manager

6 Community Pharmacy News – March 2015

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Local commissioning supportPSNC supports LPCs in their work to get local services commissioned for

pharmacy contractors in their area. Here we highlight some of our recent

resources which help promote the work community pharmacy can do.

Essential facts, stats and quotesA new section on Essential facts, stats and quotes has been added to the PSNC

website.

Please note this section is a work in progress; however, we have decided to

publish it so that LPC members can start to use it. New topics will continue to be

added, and new facts, stats and quotes will also be added to the individual topics.

Useful shortlinks are:

• psnc.org.uk/essentialfacts – this takes you directly to the page; and

• psnc.org.uk/pharmacyfacts – this takes you directly to the page, which

contains key facts about community pharmacy and pharmacy professionals.

New service prospectuses publishedAt the time of going to press, we have published 11 service prospectuses, with

more to be published over the coming weeks. The prospectuses are intended to

showcase community pharmacy services to encourage local commissioners to

consider commissioning them.

The prospectuses have been added to our Think Pharmacy webpage

(psnc.org.uk/thinkpharmacy) and included in our Commissioners Portal

(psnc.org.uk/commissioners), but Word versions are also available in the LPC

Resources Centre so LPCs can add their own contact details in the footer.

Community pharmacy’s value in delivering public health services is recognised

BMJ Open has published the results of a systematic review focussed on public health interventions delivered by community

pharmacies, which concludes that commissioners should consider using community pharmacies to help deliver public health services.

Nineteen studies, which explored the effectiveness of community pharmacy-delivered interventions for weight management,

smoking cessation and the misuse or excessive consumption of alcohol were included in the review.

The review concluded that community pharmacy is an appropriate and feasible setting to deliver a range of public health

interventions and that given the potential reach, effectiveness and associated costs of these interventions, community pharmacy

should be considered by commissioners to help deliver public health services.

The Zika virus: guidance for pharmacy teamsPublic Health England has issued a guidance document on the Zika virus for healthcare professionals, produced in conjunction

with the Royal College of General Practitioners and the British Medical Association.

The guidance provides a summary of background information on the Zika virus including risks of transmission and symptoms,

its risk of harm to foetuses as well as general advice and recommendations for travellers. It also issues specific advice to

women who are pregnant, or planning to become pregnant.

The information in the guidance can be used by pharmacy teams when giving advice or responding to patients’ queries,

including pregnant women, who are travelling to or retuning from countries which have been affected by the Zika outbreak.

To read and download the guidance, please visit: dld.bz/emDfm

psnc.org.uk 7

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Polypharmacy learning campaign

The Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education (CPPE) has sent out materials on polypharmacy to every

registered pharmacy professional in England for their spring 2016 learning campaign.

We are launching a range of learning on Polypharmacy, including a national campaign of learning, a

distance learning programme and a focal point workshop.

Over the past decade, the average number of items prescribed for each person per year in England has

increased significantly. For many patients, it might be entirely appropriate to be taking multiple

medicines. However, evidence suggests that some patients may be taking unnecessary or problematic

medicines. This can put patients at risk of harm, increasing risk of hospital admission and leading to poor

therapeutic outcomes. This makes polypharmacy an important topic for all health and social care

professionals.

CPPE is aiming to raise awareness of polypharmacy, and highlight the important role that pharmacy

professionals have in supporting patients taking multiple medicines. The learning materials look at

practical steps that you can take in your practice to identify problematic polypharmacy and address this

by working with your patients and colleagues in a patient-centred way.

A copy of our new Polypharmacy distance learning programme, a leaflet sharing our weekly challenges and a letter outlining how

you can use the programme have been sent to all pharmacy professionals.

Keep an eye on our dedicated webpage for updates: www.cppe.ac.uk/polypharmacy.

Layla FattahSenior Pharmacist,

Learning Development

The “Prioritising services,

improving outcomes” e-learning

programme aims to explain the

underlying principles of patient-

centred pharmacy services and to

help participants identify and

overcome the main barriers to

effective service delivery.

Find out more at: dld.bz/epuHU

Latest support from CPPE

The British Lung Foundation (BLF) is the

only charity in the UK with a mission to

look after the nation’s lungs. Their aim is

to improve care – and to prevent, treat

and cure lung conditions. They are

involved in research, campaigns and offer support to people with

lung conditions.

BLF has a number of free resources that community pharmacy

teams can supply patients with or signpost patients to on the BLF

website, including:

• easy-to-understand information about lung conditions;

• advice on how people can get the most out of life with a lung

condition;

• a range of leaflets, booklets and other resources on topics such

as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer,

mesothelioma, pulmonary fibrosis and tuberculosis;

• a web community, which allows people to chat to others who

are in a similar situation, ask questions or just have a look at

what is being discussed; and

• a local support finder, which assists with finding out what local

support groups are available.

Additionally, healthcare professionals with a special interest in

respiratory care can become a BLF Professional, which includes a

number of benefits such as regional study days, networking and

opportunities to shadow other services.

You can read the full article on what BLF has to offer both

patients and healthcare professionals at: dld.bz/erY3K

Charity Focus: British Lung Foundation

A new consultation skills floor has been

added to theLearningpharmacy.com to

complement CPPE’s other work in this

area. Online learning platform

theLearningpharmacy.com is a free

virtual community pharmacy that offers

interactive bite-sized challenges for the

whole pharmacy team.

Find out more at: dld.bz/eqdmk

The third edition of the consultation

skills for pharmacy practice (CSfPP)

newsletter describes new work that CPPE

is currently undertaking, such as the ‘Do

you say…?’ leaflet campaign and the

distribution of consultation skills cards for

pharmacy teams, as well as relevant

publications and e-learning programmes.

Find out more at: dld.bz/eqQ7A

“

”

8 Community Pharmacy News – March 2015

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Men and women cannow expect to live for

a further 20 yearson average at age 65

Public satisfaction withthe NHS fell by 5% in2015 to 60%...

...and publicdissatisfaction rose by 8% to 23%

An independent reportidentifies ways to

save £5bn over thenext three to four years

Evaluations and statistics• A survey of more than 2,000 people showed that public

satisfaction with the NHS fell by 5% in 2015 to 60% and

dissatisfaction rose by 8% to 23%.The three main reasons that

people gave for being dissatisfied with the health service were

long waiting times, staff shortages and lack of funding.

• The latest quality monitoring report from The King’s Fund

found that just over half (53%) of NHS trust finance directors

said that quality of care in their local area has worsened in the

past year, and nearly two-thirds (64%) of trusts are reliant on

extra financial support from the Department of Health (DH) or

drawing down their reserves.

• NHS England has published the results of the NHS 2015 Staff

Survey involving approximately a quarter of the permanent

NHS workforce. Despite showing significant improvements in

key areas such as staff engagement, employee health and

wellbeing and prioritisation of patient care, the survey still

reveals a number of challenges being faced such as stress,

staffing levels and discrimination.

• According to a report by Public Health England (PHE), men can

now expect to live for a further 19 years at age 65 and women

can expect to live for a further 21 years.

• The Health & Social Care Information Centre has revealed that

the proportion of women aged 50-70 screened for breast

cancer after their first invite decreased to 63.3% in 2014/15,

down from 70.1% in 2004/05.

Resources• PHE has published Making Every Contact Count (MECC):

implementation guide, a guide to support people and

organisations to aid local implementation of MECC activity.

MECC encourages conversations based on behaviour change,

empowering healthier lifestyle choices and exploring the wider

social determinants that influence people’s heath.

• A report published by the Commonwealth Fund evaluates the

findings of an analysis of smartphone apps targeting individuals

with chronic illnesses and the extent of usefulness of these

apps in patient engagement. The authors also developed a

framework consisting of a set of general criteria to evaluate

apps on the basis of patient engagement, quality and safety.

The criteria can be used when judging whether or not an app

should be recommended to patients.

Future plans• DH has outlined its vision and commitment to provide the

highest quality and most compassionate health and care

services in the world in its Shared delivery plan: 2015 to 2020.

The plan includes a commitment to focus as much on the

prevention of poor health as it does on treating illnesses.

• Building on the agenda set out in the Five Year Forward View,

NHS England has launched a new three year programme to

support social movements in health and care, supported by the

Transformation Funding. The programme will work with six

new vanguards across England and aims to: identify and

develop exemplar social movements; demonstrate what works

effectively; and support spread to enable local approaches to

be adapted in other communities.

• An independent report, Operational productivity and

performance in English NHS acute hospitals: Unwarranted

variations, gives 15 recommendations that need to be acted

upon to deliver a £5bn saving for the NHS over the next three

to four years.

PSNC regularly receives questions from LPCs and

pharmacy contractors about what is going on in the

wider health and care landscape beyond community

pharmacy. For a more comprehensive round-up,

please visit: psnc.org.uk/hclbriefings

psnc.org.uk 9

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In this section of Community Pharmacy News we have highlighted some keynotices for you and your team to be aware of in the coming weeks and months.

Pharmacy notice board

New oral anticoagulants toolkitPfizer has published an oral anticoagulants toolkit to support community pharmacy teams to deliverMedicines Use Reviews (MURs) and the New Medicine Service (NMS).

PSNC and Pharmacy Voice have both endorsed the toolkit.

The toolkit includes a brief overview of anticoagulants, advice on starting to provideMURs and NMS for patients taking anticoagulants, and eight key points to discuss withevery patient taking an oral anticoagulant.To find out more, including how to order hard copies of the toolkit, please visit: dld.bz/emPrJ

Rebalancing medicines legislationThe Department of Health has published theoutcome of the rebalancing medicines legislationand pharmacy regulation consultation – read theoutcome in full at: dld.bz/en3K2It mentions that a separate report will bepublished on the responses to the consultationquestions on the Pharmacy (Preparation andDispensing Errors) Order 2016, but there is noindication of when this will happen.

GPhC fees to remain at current levelsThe General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) governing

council has decided fee levels for pharmacists,

pharmacy technicians and pharmacy premises will

remain at current levels for the 2016/17 financial year.

For further information, please visit: dld.bz/enr5m

MHRA issues materials andadvice relating to valproateThe Medicines and Healthcare products

Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has issued new

communication materials to increase

awareness and support discussions of the

risks of valproate, with females of

childbearing potential and duringpregnancy.

The MHRA has produced a booklet

for healthcare professionals aswell as a checklist for patientsand prescribers. There is also apatient card and a patient guideavailable.To find out more, please visit:dld.bz/epTF3

Adult public health campaignPublic Health England has called on community pharmacy teams to support its newadult health behaviour change programme, One You, which is designed to help adultslive longer, healthier and happier lives.As the NHS Five Year Forward View made very clear, the nation has to getserious about prevention. Without such a focus, recent improvements in tackling lifeexpectancies will stall and health inequalities will deepen.

A toolkit has been developed to help pharmacy teams promote health and wellbeing messages, providing agreat platform for teams to initiate conversations about lifestyle behaviours.

You can place an order for a toolkit by calling 0300 123 1019. The order line will be open Monday to Friday,from 8am to 6pm, until 8th May 2016 or while stocks last.

Prescriber codes enable the Pricing Authority to

recharge the costs of prescriptions to the

appropriate area. It is really important that

community pharmacy contractors check NHS

prescriptions contain a prescriber code, and

attempt to identify and insert codes where any

are missing. Prescriptions missing the prescriber

code (with the exception of forms issued by a

Dental Practitioner which do not need to have a

code) may be returned to the contractor as a

referred back form. This could lead to a delay in

payment for that prescription.

If you receive a referred back form which is

missing a prescriber code, and you are able to

identify the code, the code should be added to

the form and returned to the Pricing Authority in

the next month’s submission. If you have been

unsuccessful in identifying the code, the

prescription should be endorsed to that effect

and then returned. In either case, when

resubmitted, the prescription will be paid in line

with the Drug Tariff for the month the

prescription form is resubmitted.

Please also see the FAQs on the page opposite.

10 Community Pharmacy News – March 2015

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The importance of checking for prescriber codesCommunity pharmacy teams are required to check NHS prescriptions for

prescriber codes at the point of dispensing. Here we explain why they are

important and where to find them on a prescription.

Pharmacy teams who experience problems in obtaining

medicines (generic or branded) or appliances are

reminded to feed this back to our Dispensing and Supply

Team, to support PSNC’s ongoing representation of

issues in the supply chain.

PSNC passes a monthly summary of the feedback

received to the Department of Health to support their

monitoring of the situation. This information is also used

as an evidence base in discussions with manufacturers on

manufacturer-specific problems, for example,

highlighting problems with contingency arrangements

and promoting solutions.

Please make sure you let us know about any supply

issues by using our online feedback forms at:

psnc.org.uk/feedback

Experiencing supply issues?Endorsing prescriptions for appliancesFor an appliance prescribed generically and only listed generically in

the Drug Tariff, the only endorsement required is the pack size

where multiple pack sizes of the product are available. In the case of

elastic hosiery and trusses, a description of the generic product

must be provided.

For an appliance prescribed generically but listed by brand or

manufacturer’s name in the Drug Tariff, endorse the brand or

manufacturer’s name as listed in the Drug Tariff. The pack size need

only be endorsed where there are multiple pack sizes of the product

listed.

For an appliance prescribed by brand or manufacturer’s name, the

only endorsement required is pack size where there are multiple

pack sizes of the product listed.

All details correct at time of printing.

No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of PSNC.

Produced for PSNC by Communications International Group. ©. PSNC.

Colour repro and printing by Truprint Media, Margate.

The publishers accept no responsibility for any statement made in signed contributions or

in those reproduced from any other source.

Communications International Group

Linen Hall, 162-168 Regent Street, London W1B 5TB

Tel: 020 7434 1530 Fax: 020 7437 0915

Distributedfor PSNC by:

Example 1 – standard prescriber details

Example 2 – independent prescriber details

Example 3 – hospital prescriber details

There are usually two codes – one for

the prescriber and one for the medical

centre they are affiliated to. The

prescriber code will be the top code,

next to the prescriber’s name. It is often

slightly larger than the rest of the text in

this box.

The prescriber code will be a numerical

code located at the top of the box

containing the prescriber’s details and

close to their name. It is often in bold

and slightly larger than the rest of the

text in this box.

The prescriber code will be located at the

top of the box containing the prescriber’s

details. Hospital codes will contain

letters as well as numbers. It is often in

bold and slightly larger than the rest of

the text in this box.

psnc.org.uk 11

psnc’s work funDing anD statistics contract anD itlpcs

Ask PSNCThe PSNC Dispensing and Supply Team can give pharmacy teams support

and advice on a range of topics related to the Drug Tariff and

reimbursement. Questions asked in recent months have included:

1. I have received a prescription which contains a prescriber

code, I don’t know if it is the individual's prescriber code. Do I

need to verify this code is correct?

No. Community pharmacy contractors are only expected to

ensure that a code is present. Sometimes, in the case of hospital

prescriptions, the code may be related to a hospital unit rather

than an individual prescriber. Pricing Authority staff will check

during the recharging process that the code is correct.

As the contractor is not expected to perform any extra work by

attempting to validate codes, prescriptions will not be returned

to the pharmacy if a code is later identified as being incorrect.

These prescriptions will still be paid as normal within the usual

timeframes. However, if a contractor suspects the prescription is

not a genuine order for the person named on the prescription

(e.g. they believe it has been stolen or forged), they should refuse

to dispense for that reason.

2. I have received a dental prescription which does not contain a

prescriber code, do I need to contact the prescriber to find it out?

No. The Pricing Authority has confirmed that dental prescriptions

do not have prescriber codes; therefore contractors can dispense

and submit these prescriptions without needing to identify or

endorse a prescriber code.

3. A patient has presented a prescription for a generic drug. They

have requested the brand version and say they are willing to pay

the pharmacy the difference in cost between the generic and

brand. Is this allowed?

No. NHS services are provided free of charge at the point of

delivery (unless otherwise indicated, e.g. if an NHS prescription

charge is applicable).

You can, if you so choose, dispense a brand for a prescription

written generically, provided you do not receive any additional

payment for dispensing the branded drug. The choice of which

product dispensed would be that of the pharmacist and any

additional costs incurred should not be passed on to the patient.

Please note that for products prescribed generically and listed in

Part VIIIA or Part VIIIB of the Drug Tariff, reimbursement is based

on the Drug Tariff price. For a product prescribed generically

which is not listed in Part VIIIA of the Drug Tariff, reimbursement

is based on the manufacturer’s list price of the endorsed product.

Look out for more frequently asked questions next month…

If you would like more information on any of the topics covered,

the PSNC Dispensing and Supply Team will be happy to help

(0844 381 4180 or 0203 1220 810 or e-mail [email protected]).

When pharmacy teams receive NHS prescriptions, they must check whether the items prescribed are allowed on the NHS before dispensing

otherwise the pharmacy contractor may not be paid for them. Below is a list of some products that we have recently received queries about.

Product Is the item Does it Is it Can it be Additional listed in the have a ‘CE’ in the dispensed information Drug Tariff? mark? blacklist? on an FP10?

Please note: If the prescription is one of the following, pharmacy staff will need to check the relevant sections of the Drug Tariff/PSNC website:

• FP10CN or FP10PN (community nurse prescriber) – Part XVIIB of the Drug Tariff

• FP10D (dental prescriber) – Part XVIIA of the Drug Tariff

• FP10MDA (instalment dispensing) – psnc.org.uk/mda

Can it be dispensed on an FP10?

Cura-Heat Back Pain

heat packs

Dermol Wash

cutaneous emulsion

Haleraid-120

Optrex ActiMist eye

spray

Oilatum soap

No

Yes

No

No

Yes

n/a

No

n/a

n/a

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

No

No

Yes

No

No

No

This item is a medical device (CE marked) and is not listed

in Part IX of the Drug Tariff.

This item is not a medical device (CE marked) and does

not appear in Part XVIIIA (the ‘blacklist’) of the Drug Tariff.

This item is a medical device (CE marked) and is not listed

in Part IX of the Drug Tariff.

This item is a medical device (CE marked) and is not listed

in Part IX of the Drug Tariff.

This item is listed in Part XVIIIA (the ‘blacklist’) of the Drug

Tariff.

Dispensing anD supply services anD commissioning the healthcare lanDscape

PSNC websiteFor up to date information and news on community pharmacy issues, visit the PSNC website at psnc.org.uk

PSNC Community Pharmacy News is published by:The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, Times House, 5 Bravingtons Walk, London N1 9AWCommunity Pharmacy News is edited by:Melinda Mabbutt who can be contacted at the above address or by email at: [email protected] © PSNCPSNC Office: 0844 381 4180 or 0203 122 0810

Drug Tariff WatchThe Preface lists additions, deletions and alterations to the Drug Tariff. Below is a quick summary of

the changes due to take place from 1st April 2016. You may also wish to see our Dispensing Factsheet:

The Drug Tariff Preface at psnc.org.uk/dtresources

SC Special Container

R Item requiring reconstitution

Part VIIIA additions

Category A Additions:

• Aripiprazole 10mg orodispersible

tablets sugar free (28)

• Aripiprazole 15mg orodispersible

tablets sugar free (28)

• Orphenadrine 50mg/5ml oral solution

sugar free (150ml)

Category C Additions:

• Co-amoxiclav 125mg/31mg/5ml oral

suspension R (100ml) – Mylan Ltd

• Co-amoxiclav 250mg/62mg/5ml oral

suspension R (100ml) – Mylan Ltd

• Co-careldopa 25mg/100mg modified-

release tablets (60) – Half Sinemet CR

• Co-careldopa 50mg/200mg modified-

release tablets (60) – Sinemet CR

• Lidocaine 2% cream SC (30g) – Vagisil

• Mesalazine 250mg suppositories (20) –

Asacol

• Mesalazine 500mg suppositories (10) –

Asacol

• Tramadol 50mg modified-release

tablets (60) – Zydol SR

Part VIIIA amendments

• Mupirocin 2% cream SC (15g) is

changing to Category C Bactroban

Part VIIIA deletions

If a medicinal product has been removed

from Part VIIIA and has no other pack sizes

listed, it can continue to be dispensed as

long as the product does not appear in

Part XVIIIA (the ‘Blacklist’)–but it will need

to be endorsed fully (i.e. brand or supplier

name from whom the product was

purchased and the pack size from which

the item was dispensed).

• Liquid paraffin / Magnesium hydroxide

oral emulsion sugar free (150ml)

Category C – JM Loveridge Ltd

• Zaleplon 10mg capsules (14) Category

C – Sonata

• Zaleplon 5mg capsules (14) Category C –

Sonata

Part IX deletions

It is important to take careful note of removals from Part IX because if you dispense a deleted product, prescriptions will be returned

as disallowed and therefore payment will not be made for dispensing the item.

Product Size and type Product code

HME filter cassette

Normal (Normal breathing resistance) 7242

Normal Tinted 7242Cv

HiFlow (Lower resistance for sport and first time users) 7243

HiFlow Tinted 7243C

Trachi-Naze NasalRestoration System

Blue Filter (Night filter) LANNZ 0001A

Green Filter (Day filter) LANNZ 0002A

Orange Filter (Active filter) LANNZ 0003A

Baseplate - Hydrocolloid (small) LANNZ 0004A

Baseplate - Hydrocolloid (large) LANNZ 0005

Non-Woven Adhesive (large) LANNZ 0006

Clear Adhesive Waterproof Film (round) LANNZ 0007

Hands Free Valve ‘Type A’ LATNV 1001

Hands Free Valve ‘Type B’ LATNV 2001

Occlusion Cap LATNV 3001

Changes to prescribing rightsOn 1st April 2016, a number of changes to the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 come into effect, including new prescribing

rights for therapeutic radiographers, dietitians, orthoptists and midwives. Find out more at: dld.bz/erY36