As a first step towards protecting pharmacies ahead of the launch of phase two of the EPS programme the service offers pharmacists the chance to keep patients' repeat dispensing slips, order the prescriptions from GPs and then dispense the medications in advance.

Numark are encouraging pharmacies to advertise the service to patients and GPs and train up their staff to be able to help patients sign up. Numark will be providing a promotional poster to all member pharmacies and further marketing and information materials will be available to order online.

There have been some concerns about the programme raised by doctors and so there will now be work done on raising public awareness and professional involvement.

The model allowing patients to opt out of the programme has not been changed but the hope is that one day both GPs pharmacists will be able to access patients' summary care records.

The calculation on increased workload was revealed in a snapshot survey of members of the National Pharmacy Association about the new sorting arrangements which were to be introduced by NHS Prescription Services last month.

From April community pharmacists in England are expected to sort separately prescription forms containing individual items with a net ingredient cost of £100 or more and specials.

The NPA is concerned that the changes, were brought in at short notice and will be both bureaucratic and time-consuming.
NPA chairman Ian Facer said: “Pharmacies are increasingly busy and there is no spare time to do the job of the pricing authority for them.

“The NPA is currently spearheading a drive to limit the burden of paperwork in community pharmacy, so we cannot let this matter pass unchallenged.”

The NPA is contacting the Prescription Pricing Division of NHS Prescription Services to discover how long the new sorting arrangements are likely to last and how long it will be before its modernised system will be fully functional.

Mr Facer said: “In other words when will it finally work?”

The new arrangements were revealed by the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, which said that the changes were meant to improve reimbursement accuracy and would allow the service to “pay particular attention to expensive items and specials”.

Forth Valley and Grampian health boards have commissioned the alcohol interventions through local contractors.

The initiative sees pharmacists discuss drinking habits with patients and let them know the health risks which could be imposed.

The extent of pharmacy’s role in delivering interventions elsewhere in Scotland will be determined by local health boards- who have been allocated the £36m funding to cut excessive drinking.

Health boards will work alongside Alcohol and Drug partnerships to commission a range of measures to help prevent alcohol abuse.

A Scottish Government said it was up to local health boards to determine how funding is to be determined.

Announcing the initiative Scotland cabinet secretary for health Nicola Sturgeon stated: “Brief interventions are a key part of our strategy and they’re not only clinically effective but also costs effective.”

A report from the inaugural meeting of the group, which is facilitated by the RPSGB’s Welsh directorate, indicated the role which pharmacy is able to play in the area and highlighted key issues regarding mental health care.

The report states that the services pharmacists are able to provide for people with and affected by mental health issues appeared to be badly recognised and poorly integrated into models of care.

The fact that pharmacists could play an important role in medicines adherence which could help to maintain the stability of people with mental health issues, is stressed throughout the report. The fact that there is clear potential for Medicines Use Reviews (MURs) to be targeted at mental health patients is also indicated.

Paul Gimson, director of the RPSGB’s Welsh directorate, said there had been high level of debates on professional issues by the group, which brought together Welsh Assembly members and those with an interest in pharmacy.

The Group will hold its next meeting later in the year to discuss rural health pharmacy services in Wales.

Pharmacists earning more than £43,875 a year will be eligible for the highest savings and could see membership fees reduced to £9 per month. Pharmacists earning less than £43,875 and on a standard tax code will still get a saving with the fee being reduced to roughly £13 per month.,

A pioneering outpatient service that brings together community pharmacy and secondary care has been officially opened by England’s chief pharmaceutical officer Dr Keith Ridge.

The Lloyds Pharmacy outpatient scheme, a partnership with the Royal Liverpool University Hospital provides outpatient dispensing for haematology, gastroenterology, pain and renal clinic patients.

Outpatients using the service are able to collect prescriptions at the pharmacy, which is located within the hospital. This allows hospital pharmacy staff to spend more time providing advice and assistance to medical and nursing staff and patients.

The Lloydspharmacy team received training to ensure staff were fully briefed on the different specialist drugs which may be prescribed in the hospital.

Andy Murdock, pharmacy relations and governance director at Lloydspharmacy, said community pharmacy was "well placed to work alongside hospital trusts to deliver service efficiencies and service improvements".

80% of registrants achieve “excellent” rating in first six months of CPD call and review.
The regulation directorate of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) is
confident that the pharmacy profession is keeping its competencies, skills, and knowledge of
best practice, actively up to date with the announcement that over 80% of registrants have
achieved a rating of “excellent” in the first wave of its call and review Continuing Professional
Development (CPD) assessment programme.
“Over 3500 records have been called for review since the system went live in July last year,”
says Janet Flint, the Society’s lead for CPD. “Not only are we pleased to report the high
standards of registrants’ achievement in the overall assessment – over 80% of entries
achieved a rating of “excellent” against the review criteria and a further 18% of entries
achieved the “good” standard – but we are also pleased that over 80% of the records
requested were submitted promptly within the specified time limits.”
The Society’s analysis of the data from the first six months of CPD call and review also
revealed that:-
• The average number of entries submitted per record was 15
• The referral rate to the Chief Inspector for non compliance was 1.5%
• The average time between receipt of the record and review and feedback from the
Society being despatched to the registrant was 27 days
• 3.5% of registrants subject to the call requested an extension to the time frame, with
75% of those requests being granted and a further 5% rescinding their original request
“CPD is a key tool which enables the profession to demonstrate its capabilities,
professionalism and expertise, in a day and age where change is constant and innovation
continuous meaning that the resulting challenges to pharmacy professionals have never been
greater,” comments Janet. “Evidence of CPD is likely to form a significant part of the
requirements for the revalidation of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians when introduced to
the profession in the next few years. By taking a formal approach now to CPD we are
demonstrating publicly the standards which professionals are expected to attain and maintain.
This means not only that pharmacists and pharmacy technicians have a framework to
support their ongoing professional development, but also, and as a result, that the public can
be reassured that it will receive the first class professional pharmacy practice it expects and
deserves.”

On the 11th and 12th October, New Directions Pharmacy enjoyed an extremely successful visit to the annual Pharmacy Show held at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.

Not only is the Pharmacy show an ideal way to see the latest products and services available within the sector, it also offers a packed programme of world class education from five quality conference streams featuring some of the brightest minds in the industry. We were fortunate enough to have the privilege of attending a selection of these seminars and found their content to be hugely beneficial and informative. The Pharmacy Show was attended by community pharmacists, pharmacy business owners, staff and technicians from both the independent sector and the multiple retailers. We found The Pharmacy show to be an excellent opportunity to meet a large variety of people involved in the Pharmaceutical sector. This included new candidates and clients and some of the Pharmacists, technicians and companies that already use our service.

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