Resources and Useful Information

This section of the website will provide contractors with access to useful resources and information.

Click on a title in the following list for more information:

Acronyms

CPE has published a glossary of acronyms commonly used in pharmacy, and the wider healthcare landscape. The guide contains an A-Z list of commonly abbreviated words which may be useful to refer to. View the guide here

Antibiotic formularies (by area)

Winter Ailments cold and flu – Antibiotic Duration prescribing Tips

NICE publish primary care prescribing guidelines for a range of common infection topics, which include recommendations on the choice, dose, and course length of antibiotics. Prescribing longer course lengths than guideline recommendations may lead to antibiotic overuse, increased risk of side effects and increased risk of antibiotic resistance.

A recent meta-analysis estimated that each additional day of antibiotic therapy is associated with a 4% increase in risk of side effects and a 3% increase in risk of resistance. Click here for more information

Brexit

The UK left the European Union (EU) on Friday 31st January 2020, with a transition period in place until 31st December 2021.

For more information click here to be redirected to PSNC Brexit & Community Pharmacy webpage

Deadline Tracker

Click below for this useful deadline tracker published monthly. It is designed to keep you on top of upcoming deadlines. December 2023 Deadline Tracker

Direction of Prescriptions

Q. What is direction of prescriptions? On a general view direction of prescriptions can be seen as the sending of prescriptions to a pharmacy other than the one which the patient wanted them to go to. Sometimes it will be sent by the medical practice to a pharmacy; sometimes it will be a pharmacy collecting from a medical practice; and nowadays with the electronic prescription service, it could be the setting of the nomination without the patient’s informed consent. But on a wider interpretation it could also include action taken by pharmacies to encourage patients to use a particular pharmacy by misleading them or applying undue pressure. Overall – it is denying patients their free choice of pharmacy.

Click here for the form – “Your Prescription, Your Choice” that patients can complete to report pressure to use a particular pharmacy

Click here for the guidance on prescription direction which has been agreed jointly between BMA, Pharmacy Voice & PSNC click here for – An Interactive Guide to What good looks like for Assisted Medicines Taking May 2022

Further details, resources & FAQs can be found on CPE website

Dispensing Endorsements and Top Tips

For information on dispensing endorsements and top tips, please click here

Disposal of Clinical Waste

NHS England and NHS Improvement – North West (Lancashire and South Cumbria) sent via a cascade letter to contractors information that as of 1st of Dec 2021 a new company will be dealing with queries and questions regarding pharmacy waste. This company (Anenta) will handle all clinical waste queries from all Community Pharmacies sites. Please note, before you contact Anenta, you will need to register on an online system called “Vector” that will allow you to interact with them to make service requests, advise of deficiencies in the service, or to simply seek advice. You can register your Community Pharmacy on the Vector System by clicking here – Register for your NHSE Service (anenta.com)

EPS Token Ordering and Escalation

This factsheet for Community Pharmacy teams explains how to order EPS and escalate issues if this is required. To view the sheet, please click here. To find out more, please visit the CPE website: CPE Briefing 002/23: EPS token ordering and escalation – PSNC Website

Find my NHS Number

A new service is now live to help find your NHS number – https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/online-services/find-nhs-number/ This service is for anyone living in England who has forgotten or does not know their NHS number. You can also use this service on behalf of someone else where the name, date of birth and registered home postcode is known. You can opt for the number to be sent to you by text, email or letter.

Healthwatch

The following are the reports, based across Lancashire Community Pharmacy Lancashire and South Cumbria (CPLSC) geography, of the findings from three Healthwatch teams who spoke to people in a wide selection of community pharmacies.

A total of 24 pharmacies were involved and 326 people shared their views and experiences.

The overarching report “Your Voice” can be downloaded by clicking here.

More information can be found on the Healthwatch Lancashire website: Home – Healthwatch Lancashire

Pharmacy: Free Access to Interpreters (Translation Services)

If your pharmacy has patients whose first language is not English and you feel they would benefit from the support of an interpreter; please note that you are able to obtain access to interpreter services from language line at NHSE expense. Contact Languageline Telephone: 0845 310 9900 Provide Pharmacist Code: 288222 Where necessary, for example due to social distancing arrangements, you can request that the interpreter sets up a 3 way call between the pharmacy, interpreter and patients mobile. A quick Reference Guide is available to view HERE.

Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub in Lancashire and South Cumbria

The Lancashire and South Cumbria (LSC) Integrated Care System (our ICS) has a LSC Psychological Resilience Hub that can be accessed here: https://lscresiliencehub.nhs.uk/ Originally set up in response to the pandemic to help support staff working across LSC in healthcare, social care, emergency services, public sector and the voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) sector, it continues to offer support to staff with non-covid related health and wellbeing difficulties. The hubs can offer you a clinical assessment and referral to local services enabling access to support where needed, such as talking therapy or counselling. It is separate and confidential from your employer and is free to access. You can self-refer or refer a colleague (with their consent). You can start by completing their online self-assessment tool which will provide you with an opportunity to assess how you are managing, and at the end of these screening questions, you will be able to refer yourself to the Resilience Hub so that you can speak with one of their team in more detail about how things are. If you would prefer to speak to the Resilience Hub team directly, you can call them on 01772 520228 or email lschub@lscft.nhs.uk If you refer yourself to the Resilience Hub you can expect to hear from them within 3 working days and you will be offered an appointment to have a conversation with a caring member of the Resilience Hub team. Please take 3 minutes to watch this Video about the Hub https://lscresiliencehub.nhs.uk/about Urgent Help Please note that the Resilience Hub is not a crisis service. If you or someone else needs urgent help, please contact your GP or a crisis service. Mental Health Crisis Line – staffed by trained mental health professionals who are able to provide assessment and will support you, or somebody you are concerned about, to access appropriate care and treatment. This service is available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. Visit: www.lscft.nhs.uk/crisis or call Freephone: 0800 953 0110 Samaritans – available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day – www.samaritans.org or call Freephone 116 123 The Hub complements the other wellbeing support available to pharmacy teams – Pharmacist Support – Pharmacist Support is the profession’s independent charity for pharmacists and their families, former pharmacists, trainees and MPharm students. https://pharmacistsupport.org/ The charity also has a suite of wellbeing resources to help you and your team : https://pharmacistsupport.org/how-we-can-help/wellbeing-service/ through the service, you can access a range of individual and group training. Looking After You: coaching for the Primary Care Workforce – Free confidential coaching with highly experienced and compassionate coaches for everyone working in primary care. The programme has been designed to be easily accessible and tailored to the needs of the individual, providing an opportunity to prioritise you whilst you are also taking care of others. https://www.england.nhs.uk/supporting-our-nhs-people/support-now/looking-after-you-confidential-coaching-and-support-for-the-primary-care-workforce/ The Looking After You programme comprises of three coaching offers: Looking After You Too (which also includes a service for ethnically diverse colleagues), Looking After Your Team and Looking After Your Career which support psychological wellbeing, team development and career conversations. The programme has been effective in improving wellbeing and resilience in primary care staff.

NHS Pathways 111 DoS

The Directory of Services (DoS) is a central directory of information which provides NHS 111 call handlers and others with real-time information about services available to support a patient. Pharmacies’ services are included within the DoS and it is important to the efficient working of NHS 111 and some other urgent care providers that information on pharmacy services is accurate to allow patients to be appropriately referred to community pharmacies.

Click here to download a PowerPoint presentation giving an introductory explanation of the DoS.

How to keep your NHS 111 Directory of Services Profile and NHS website profile up to date

A step by step guide on how to manage short and long term closures can be found at https://assets.nhs.uk/prod/documents/help-guide-for-managing-temporary-closures-on-your-NHS-website-pharmacy-profile.pdf

For temporary closures of more than 5 days please amend your opening times within the Dos Profile Updater, https://dos-profile.service.nhs.uk/#/index for temporary closures of less than 5 days please amend your RAG status to ‘RED’ using the DoS Capacity status tool https://www.directoryofservices.nhs.uk/app/controllers/login/login.php which can be accessed from the login page on the DoS Profile Updater.

The DoS emergency change number 0300 0200 363 may be used where necessary. You may also contact your local DoS lead/team if you have any other queries about the DoS

Contractors in CCG areas: Blackpool, Fylde & Wyre, Lancashire North, East Lancashire & Blackburn with Darwen should contact: Email: dos.maintenance@blackpool.nhs.uk Tel: 01253 951249 or 01253 951437

Contractors in CCG areas: Greater Preston, Chorley & South Ribble and West Lancashire should contact: Lisa Howarth/Tracy Pole, 111 Dos Maintenance Team, Midlands and Lancashire CSU. email: MLCSU.111doscentrallancs@nhs.net Tel: 01772 325042 or 01772 325045

Paper supporting patients to take medicines safely. May 2020

Click here to download a paper submitted to the North West Region suggesting a review on “Supporting people living in the community to achieve the best possible outcomes from their medicines, by working with all the partners involved in their care – developing a system level approach” it includes the use of a wide range of options including compliance aids and the appropriate use of multi-compartment compliance aids (MCAs)/monitored dosage systems (MDSs)/dosette boxes

Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment

Lancashire Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment 2018 (PNA)

The Pan Lancashire PNA has now been published. The PNA seeks to identify those local health needs which could be met by the provision of pharmaceutical services, and contains information about the demographics and health priorities of the local population alongside a detailed picture of current pharmaceutical services. It is used as the basis for decision making in response to applications for new pharmacies.

There is an executive summary, the full PNA is a large document as it covers Pan Lancashire, and is split into separate chapters. It can be accessed from each of the three Health and Well Being Board websites

Pharmacy Stationery Orders

Primary Care Support England (PCSE) – for NHS stationary including EPS tokens: pcse.england.nhs.uk

Primary Care Support England (PCSE) have launched a new online portal (April 2016) which all community pharmacies in England will be required to use if they want to order NHS stationery.

The portal will initially provide pharmacy contractors with a quick and easy way for ordering and tracking supplies including pre-printed forms, Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) tokens and other NHS stationery. The portal will replace the contacts and channels contractors currently use to order PCSE supplies.

Over time, it is anticipated that the portal will become the main route for accessing additional primary care support services, including EPS payments (anticipated October to December 2016) and straightforward pharmacy market entry online applications (anticipated April to June 2017).

You will need to register your pharmacy to use the Portal at www.pcse.england.nhs.uk/register and will need your Unique Identifier which has been posted to your pharmacy. If you do not have your Unique Identifier, please email: PCSE.enquiries@nhs.net

If you have any queries about the registration process, please read the FAQs at www.pcse.england.nhs.uk/help

Issues with Primary Care Support England (PCSE)

Since April 2016, the PSNC has received a large number of reports from LPCs and individual pharmacy contractors about difficulties that are being experienced with PCSE. PSNC has been escalating the most serious cases to senior officials at Capita, NHS England and the Department of Health.

PSNC have had a number of issues brought to their attention including with difficulty logging onto the online portal, excessive time delays in telephones being answered by PCSE, queries about minimum / maximum order quantities and especially the availability of EPS tokens.

What can I do?

In the first instance, contact PCSE using their “contact us” form or via email to PCSE.enquiries@nhs.net on a daily basis if you have any difficulties in registering for the online portal, EPS token shortages etc. Continue emailing until a response is received – keeping copies and / or a record of your emails / communications. If no response has been received within 3 working days (as stated on the PCSE website) then please copy all the emails to info@psnc.org.uk explaining the steps you have taken, and the current position e.g. “I have a supply of EPS tokens to last me for the next two days” so that the PSNC is able to escalate matters.

More information

For more information see the PCSE page on PSNC website – click here or go to PCSE website: www.pcse.england.nhs.uk

Will I be charged for my order?

This question has arisen because the online ordering portal includes prices for many of the items. As stated in the relevant FAQ available on the PCSE website, www.pcse.england.nhs.uk/help contractors will not be charged for standard orders made using the portal. PCSE is committed to ensuring NHS England supplies are ordered responsibly and for this reason, prices for items are included to help contractors make an informed decision about what they need. (Note, there may be a charge for urgent supplies.)

VAT

Health professionals and pharmaceutical products (VAT Notice 701/57)

How to account for VAT on goods and services provided by registered health professionals, including doctors, dentists, nurses and pharmacists. Click here for the guidance from HM Revenue & Customs

Detailed information on VAT can be found on PSNC website: https://psnc.org.uk/funding-and-statistics/funding-distribution/vat/

Whistleblowing and Freedom to Speak up Guardians

Pharmacies need to review/update their Whistleblowing Policies in line with NHS England guidance. The updated guidance now requires pharmacies to appoint a Freedom to Speak Up Guardian which is an independent person that staff can contact in confidence if they have any concerns.

If you have not already identified a Freedom to Speak Up Guardian and need one, you can ask make a request to CPL. To do this, write to: office@pharmacylancashire.org

Click here this link for more information on whistleblowing polices and pharmacies duties

Woundcare Formulary

Click here for Morecambe Bay wound care formulary