Most Pharmacies occasionally, for very good reasons, order prescriptions from the GP on behalf of (and with consent from) the patient.
Some pharmacies have quite sophisticated systems to streamline this process. 
In general, this service is well received by the majority of patients who have difficulty ordering their repeat prescription...but a word of caution...I've been approached by some senior people who have alerted me to the fact that - in a small minority of cases - perceived "over ordering" of product by pharmacy appears to be causing devastating effects on some GP budgets...
It seems to be the "when required" products like creams, lotions, etc
Please remember, to ensure that you have checked with the patient that they really do need the products before you order it on their behalf...

We all know that it's really important to endorse correctly...getting it wrong will result "at best" in a returned item for clarification, but more likely you will be paid incorrectly...and you might lose lots of money!
 
In the current environment of drug shortages, contractors are making many more NCSO endorsements...It's so easy to miss off something; and if you do, the people pricing your prescriptions are not very forgiving. In fact they will ignore the NCSO endorsement and pay you the lower DT price!
 
Indeed a recent PSNC study makes shocking reading!
 
Only about 40% of contractors bothered to make a NCSO claim...losing lots of money.
 
Of those claims, only about 75% of the claims were successful...
 
Of the 25% of claims that were unsuccessful, about 70% were unsuccessful due to endorsing error (AND the remaining claims were not successful due to an error by the prescription pricing service!
 
So my message to contractors is:-
 
Make your NCSO claims, and please ensure when you do that you claim correctly!

Sometimes you do a Medicines Use Review (MUR) and there's nothing to report - in fact this happens quite a lot - although I believe that the MUR isn't wasted because in these cases  we get to confirm everything is fine. (Remember that a patient adhering to their medication is most likely to get maximum benefit - and less likely to suffer problems)
 
But, just occasionally something jumps out that seems to justify the MUR service really well!
 
This morning I did a MUR on a lady that had been recently prescribed 80mg of furosemide daily for fluid in the legs...and she takes them correctly as prescribed "two daily." I discovered, however, that she started to take them at bedtime with some other tablets - and is up all night going to the toilet - which we might expect!
 
She didn't realise that it was the tablets, and I've reassured her that her frequent nocturnal visits to the bathroom will stop once she takes the medication appropriately again...
 

I'm really pleased that the Regional LPCs, working together, have negotiated a comprehensive Flu Vaccination Service!
 
Even better news is that "live" training isn't needed if you have had such training 2 years running!
 
The LPCs have arranged live training events around the patch for those that require it; only a few, however, as I suspect most pharmacists only require the compulsory web based update training...

Please log onto the LPC website, follow the instructions, and book yourselves onto the training you need; then when the vaccine becomes available you can begin inoculating early.

 http://www.northernpharmacy.net/nt-gst-s-lpc.html 

Working together with our GP colleagues we can make a difference...raising the percentage of immunised people and so help make the North East the hardest place for vulnerable people to catch Flu!

Last Friday I heard local community pharmacist, and former long serving member of our LPC, Tony Schofield on radio Newcastle doing an interview early in the morning about the proposed change in the law to treat driving under the influence of drugs/medicines more in line with that of alcohol.
 
Tony very eloquently discussed the range of prescription medicines which might cause drowsiness and reminded listeners of the importance to read the dispensing label and take responsibility for their actions! He said "cars are potentially a lethal weapon - and are dangerous if the people driving them are drowsy." 
 
Just because a doctor prescribes something for a condition, it's not a get-out-of-jail-free card to drive!