 You will be aware that pregabalin (Lyrica) patent is changing and generic pregabalin is becoming available. The NPA have issued the advice below regarding the licencing of the product. The NPA have also informed us that are also in the process of discussing this issue with the MHRA and Pfizer. Dear Pharmacist
You may find in the coming months that generic pregabalin is available to order. I would like to highlight to you that although the patent for pregabalin expired in July 2014, this patent expiry related to the use of pregabalin in epilepsy and generalised anxiety disorder; Pfizer will retain a patent for the use of pregabalin in the treatment of peripheral and central neuropathic pain in adults until July 2017. This means that until July 2017, generic manufacturers of pregabalin will only be able to obtain a licence for pregabalin for use in epilepsy and/or generalised anxiety disorder and Lyrica, Pfizer’s branded product, will remain the only product licensed for use in pain as well as epilepsy and generalised anxiety disorder. Pfizer has indicated that it will contest any challenges to the patent for pain. To avoid any possible patent infringement by pharmacists, steps will need to be taken to ensure that where generic pregablin is requested on a prescription the correctly licensed product is supplied. This may mean contacting the prescriber and establishing the indication and requesting that the prescription is amended and ordered by brand as Lyrica if necessary. Although generic pregabalin is unlikely to differ clinically from the branded Lyrica, supplying the generic version of pregabalin for neuropathic pain may have the following implications for pharmacists:
When supplying pregabalin for the treatment of epilepsy, pharmacists should also consider MHRA guidance issued in 2013 regarding the generic prescribing of antiepileptics. The guidance states that pregabalin does not generally need to be prescribed by brand for the treatment of epilepsy unless there are specific concerns such as patient anxiety and a risk of confusion or dosing errors. For further information on this or any other query please contact the NPA Pharmacy Services Team on 01727 891 800 / 08447 364 201 or email [email protected] . Kind regards, Leyla Leyla Hannbeck Msc, MRPharmS Head of Pharmacy Services Tel: 01727 858 687 ext 3372 Mobile: 07508932868 Email: [email protected]
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The NHS England Sub Group (formerly known as the Area Team) have asked us to distribute the following letter to pharmacy contractors. For your convenience we have also placed below the templates required for submission. Any queries regarding this letter should be directed to Nicola Smith from the Area Team. Details below. Nichola Smith Assistant Primary Care Contract Manager (Pharmacy & Optometry) Cumbria and North East Sub Region of NHS England Based at: Waterfront 4 Goldcrest Way Newburn Newcastle upon Tyne NE 15 8NY Direct Dial: 01138 247244 Switchboard: 0191 2106400 Email: [email protected] 
 Following the very well attended and evaluated Mental Health training provided by the LPC, delegates have expressed an interest to attend Suicide prevention training. This training has always been a half day session, during working hours, which is not always possible for community pharmacy to attend. However the LPC have arranged 2 x evening sessions specifically for pharmacy. All delegates MUST ATTEND BOTH SESSIONS. There are limited spaces, so please register ASAP . We may have to limit numbers per pharmacy, however, please register all staff wishing to attend and we will look at some additional dates if there is a greater demand. The sessions will be on Wednesday 18th February and Wednesday 25th February.
 All NHS Providers, including community pharmacies, need to provide information governance assurances to the NHS on an annual basis.
This is done via the completion of the online information governance toolkit (Version 12). The LPC would like to remind contractors that the deadline for submission of the 2014/15 return is 31 March 2015. Further information on the information governance requirements for this year can be found on the PSNC Website. This can be accessed by clicking HERE.  IPF Webinar Following on from their previous webinars the Independent Pharmacy Federation (IPF) is putting on a webinar about summary care records on the 28th January 2015. Full Details of the Webinar and its contents are below. The event is open to all. Summary Care Records For Pharmacists
Webinar 28th January 2015 7.30-8.30pm
The IPF has put together a webinar which will outline where the SCR project is up to and how in the future you could be using these to provide safer prescribing for your patients both on a day to day basis and in emergencies.Put this date and time in your diary now and join us for just 1 hour! Be in the know it gives you the advantage! In April 2014, HSCIC and NHS England embarked on a Proof of Concept project in order to enable approximately 100 pharmacies access to Summary Care Records (SCR). We aim to share with you the benefits which are beginning to be reported, share some of the pharmacist’s experiences having used SCR, and discuss what the future may hold beyond the proof of concept scope to March 2015. This is the ideal opportunity to find out from the HSCIC team, NHS England and users how it has gone and how you can be prepared. During the 1 hour webinar we will discuss what is SCR & what has been achieved so far, the benefits for patients, pharmacists and the NHS. The user experience and when it is most appropriate to use. Most importantly – what comes next, the plans for further roll out. There will be opportunity for questions at the end of the live presentation. If you have any questions you can send them in on the night or now! Please email[email protected] with these. To register for the webinar please sign up here For more information on SCR please see this section on the RPS website. or the HSCIC website. You can follow SCR on twitter at @NHSSCR To register for the webinar please sign up here Have you heard about the Pharmacy Manifesto? We will be updating you on progress to date and how you can be involved. Summary Care Records (SCR), access to patient records. The future is now! Whilst implementation of the PERMSS service has been very successful and over 400 patients have been referred to community pharmacies by NHS 111 for an emergency supply, the LPCs are still receiving some reports from 111, that referrals are not being actioned because locumpharmacists do not know about the service.
The service level agreement that pharmacies signed to participate in the service states in section 5 'The pharmacy will provide the service in accordance with the specification (Schedule 1) and ensure that all substantive and locum pharmacists are aware of it.' Please ensure that a copy of the service specification and service schedule are available in the pharmacy and that these documents are brought to the attention of all pharmacists. If you require a copy of the document, it can be downloaded from the Northern Pharmacy website a twww.northernpharmacy.net The website also has a copy of the 'Frequently asked questions' document, which has been circulated previously, which you will find helpful. In order to action a referral, there must be access to PharmOutcomes at all times during the out of hours period. If you do not want to provide locum pharmacists with their own log-in details for PharmOutcomes, you must ensure there is at least one member of staff available when the pharmacy is open during the out of hours period, who has log-in details for PharmOutcomes and knows how to use the system. If you have any queries about the service or PharmOutcomes, please do not hesitate to contact us. NHS England have asked the LPC to communicate with community pharmacies with regard to a series of dispensing errors reported. Please ensure extra care when dispensing / checking Amlodipine and Amitriptyline, which seem to be the pattern of errors.
Below are 3 incidents which highlight some of the issues. Incident 1: a prescription for Amitriptyline was dispensed as Amlodipine (10mg tablets 100) Incident 2: Amlodipine 10mg on label 5mg dispensed Incident 3: Label for 10mg Amlodipine put in a box of Amitriptyline Please ensure your teams are aware of this increase in errors between Amlodpinine and Amitrptyline to help reduce errors. As you will know there have been recent supply problems with Betnovate cream and ointment, including the RD preparation; this may mean that it is necessary to prescribe an alternative product / formulation. NECS Medicines optimisation have put together a useful reference document for prescribers and pharmacists who may need to advise prescribers. The document is reproduced below. For information on product availability as of 16/1/2015 see: http://hcp.gsk.co.uk/content/dam/Health/en_GB/DAM%20Content/Documents/Supply/dermatology.pdf   Those pharmacies taking part in the MUR + Pentasa services may have experienced problems in obtaining stock. On speaking to Ferring we understand that there is currently a quota system in place for independent pharmacies and in order to ensure that there are no supply issues you will need to contact Sue Bone (details below) who can ensure that quotas may be adjusted if necessary.
Sue Bone BA(Hons) Regional Account Manager Urology and Gastroenterology Divisions Ferring Pharmaceuticals Email: [email protected] Mobile: 07776 162889 Changes to Cavilon Codes in the Drug Tariff - NHSBSA will pay in January but not February21/1/2015  3M have made some changes to their Cavilon Durable Barrier Cream range, to reflect these changes a three month notice of deletion was given to a number of products in the October 2014 Drug Tariff. As of 1st January 2015 the following codes have been deleted from the Drug Tariff: Cavilon Durable Barrier Cream
The January 2015 Drug Tariff lists the following product: Cavilon Durable Barrier Cream
Note: prescriptions for Cavilon Durable Barrier Cream issued without a code will be reimbursed based on the items listed in the Drug Tariff. The table below outlines the status for each code for January and February 2015:  |
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