 LPC News has learned that the judge who heard (and rejected) Pfizer's application for an injunction on Actavis has issued an order from the high court that NHS England issue central guidance that prescribers must prescribe Lyrica when using pregabalin for pain. Mr Justice Arnold noted " ... the best solution to the problem which arises in this case is to try to ensure that prescribing doctors prescribe pregabalin for the treatment of pain by reference to the brand name Lyrica rather than by reference to the generic name pregabalin. That will ensure that pharmacists only dispense Lyrica when presented with prescriptions for pregabalin which are (at least so far as the prescriber is concerned) for pain without requiring the pharmacist to know the indication for which pregabalin has been prescribed." This guidance is contrary to the general prescription guidance which is always to prescribe generically unless there is very good reasons to do otherwise. Pfizer had apparently submitted evidence in this case that indicated local health authorities were refusing to accede to their request to prescribe pregabalin by brand name for the patented use, based on there being "no clinical reason to do so". LPC News have obtained a copy of the central guidance and pharmacies are expected to receive it direct from NHS England. It does not require a pharmacist to establish the indication. However, if the indication is known to be pain, they must dispense Lyrica. The document is attached below for your information. 
0 Comments
Hold That Date - 26th March 2015 - Launch Event for Minor Ailments Service in South Tyneside28/2/2015  South Tyneside CCG will be launching the new Minor Ailments service via a presentation to pharmacies on the evening of 26th March 2015.
The LPC have been working with CCG and will be hosting the launch event that evening. We will publish further details once they have been completed. However we are asking you to put that date in your diary and ensure that some one from your pharmacy attends to ensure they learn about the new service and ensure they are signed up.  The LPC would like to remind pharmacy contractors to ensure that they have completed all their relevant paperwork and submissions needed to comply with their contractual requirements.
Information Governance This needs to be completed by by 31st March 2015 The IG toolkit can be found at https://www.igt.hscic.gov.uk Further information can be found on our website. Click Here to access it. Contract Monitoring - Supporting Documents Every Pharmacy needs to submit the following Documentation to the area team.
Please ensure that the NHS England Sub region receive these by 31st March 2015 These can be submitted to [email protected] Quarterly NMS / MUR Data Please ensure you have supplied your quarterly MUR and NMS to the NHS England Sub Region. We have already recently submitted the Q3 2014/15 data (Oct Nov & Dec). Q4 will be due by the 10th April 2015 This data needs to be sent to [email protected] Further Information can be found on on our website. Click here to access it. ***** Please NOTE ***** The LPC understand that some contractors have still not submitted Q3 data. If you have not submitted your data yet please do so ASAP to ensure compliance with your contractual obligations. National Audit Make sure you are aware of the natonal audit and which period you will need to do. Current details can be found on our website. Click Here to access it. We will publish further details as soon as they are released.  IPF Webinar Following on from their previous webinars the Independent Pharmacy Federation (IPF) is putting on a webinar jointly with the NHSBSA and PSNC about Prescription on the 26th February 2015. Full Details of the Webinar and its contents are below. The event is open to all. Are You Missing Out on YOUR
Prescription Payments? Join us for a FREE webinar led jointly by experts from NHSBSA & PSNC You Can’t Afford to Miss This Thursday 26th February 2015 7.30-8.30pm Prescription Processing - What Really Happens? With Cath Doherty and Neil Hill from NHSBSA & Prescription Pricing Errors and Endorsing Good Practice With Harpreet Channa from PSNC The team comes highly experienced All working in the field of pricing and processing- They have the answers!
Join this interactive webinar register by clicking here  Further to our reminder about Information Governance deadline for 2014/15's return. We would like to point out that in previous years there was an exemption granted for the business continuity requirements and pharmacies have so far not been required to have these plans in place.
However, the exemption will not continue indefinitely, so contractors should consider their business continuity planning. The PSNC have produced some Guidance on business continuity planning which can be access by clicking here. Richard Copeland (CNTW LPN Chair) has asked us to pass on his email below about last years Pharmacy Audit Email Sent on Behalf of Richard Copeland, Chair, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Local Pharmacy Network Dear Colleague You will remember undertaking an audit into NSAID use in 2014. These data have provided some really useful information, also opportunities for learning for our profession. Please ensure that all Pharmacy staff who participated are thanked for their input and efforts. As you know this year there will be a National Audit on the ‘Emergency Supply of Medicines’, and details will be provided in the coming weeks. The summary data from NSAID Audit are below. As noted, these provide opportunities for learning within individual pharmacies, and perhaps more collaboratively. This information will also be fed back to GP practices via CCG’s. Yours sincerely Richard Copeland Chair, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear Local Pharmacy Network Community Pharmacy Audit 2013-14
Background As part of clinical governance requirements for 2013-14, 687 community pharmacies across Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne, Wear, Durham, Darlington and Tees undertook a practice audit, on GI safety of NSAIDs. The expected outcome was that patients at risk of GI bleeding were identified and referred to their GP, either to stop the NSAID or co-prescribe a PPI as gastro-protection. Results 8,739 patients were reviewed, with the age range reflecting the targeted group for this audit:
30% patients had been receiving a NSAID regularly for >2 months, with no gastro-protection via a PPI. 13% patients referred to their GP as a result 58% patients given advice about NSAID use Commentary The majority of pharmacists outlined an understanding of NICE guidance and the evidence underpinning the need for gastro-protection. However, there were a small amount of data entries which referenced either a lack of current GI side-effects as a reason for not referring the patient back to their GP, or that an enteric coated formulation of NSAID would offer sufficient gastro-protection. There are two significant benefits resulting from this audit. Firstly, the data provide an opportunity for learning, highlighting an area of practice which can benefit from input by pharmacists, resulting in reduced risk to patients. Secondly, the audit process can be used to foster professional links with GP practices. Future Audits The audit planned for 2014-15 is being undertaken nationally, themed on emergency supply of medicines. Details will be provided once these have been confirmed.  As part of the 2014/15 funding settlement, it was agreed that the first English national audit to be conducted by all community pharmacies will take place during March and April 2015. Since the introduction of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) in 2005 community pharmacies have been required to carry out an annual audit where the topic of the audit was determined locally by the PCT or latterly by the NHS England area team. Choosing a national topic allows the audit to focus on a priority issue for the NHS, in this case the provision of urgent and emergency care. The audit is focussed on the emergency supply of medicines and it is hoped that positive data from it alongside other data from NHS 111 and GP Out of Hours providers, will help make the case for the commissioning of community pharmacy emergency supply services nationally. Following piloting late last year, PSNC have just agreed the final paperwork for the substantive audit with NHS Employers and NHS England. The paperwork still has to go through NHS England’s gateway process and NHS England also has to set up a website to allow contractors to report their consolidated audit data. As a consequence we expect the final version of the audit paperwork will not be issued for up to 2 weeks. The PSNC We have been able to put some basic information on the audit on the their website ahead of the publication of final audit paperwork; this is available at psnc.org.uk/nationalaudit. The final audit paperwork will be put on that page once it is published by NHS England. We will also put a copy on our website. Pharmacy contractors must undertake the audit in one of two defined two week periods: Period 1 – Monday 9 March to Sunday 22 March 2015 (inclusive) or Period 2 – Monday 23 March to Sunday 5 April 2015 (inclusive) PLEASE NOTE - IMPORTANT In order to get a good range of results from pharmacies across the country, it is very important that there is a good spread of pharmacies undertaking the audit across the two periods. Ideally half of pharmacies should undertake the audit within each period. When PSNC agreed to the national audit being undertaken as part of the CPCF changes for 2014/15, it was also agreed to seek the support of contractors and LPCs to try to ensure that there is an even split of contractors undertaking the emergency supply audit across the two audit periods. We understand that AIM and CCA members will receive guidance direct from their head offices to ensure an even split between their pharmacies doing the audits in each period. To help ensure that the remaining contractors are evenly split across the 2 periods we suggest that we use the last digit of your ODS Code (F code) to determine the audit period: Odd figure – audit period 1 - Monday 9 March to Sunday 22 March 2015 (inclusive) Even figure – audit period 2 - Monday 23 March to Sunday 5 April 2015 (inclusive) Your F code can be found on your month prescription submission document. Should you have any queries please contact us. For your convenience the latest information about the audit is below. We will keep you updated as mor information is released Purpose of the audit
The audit may help to improve the quality of services in three areas: a) Community pharmacy: services and practices in the pharmacy may be influenced by the results of the audit. For example, the audit will establish the number of patients accessing repeat medication out of hours in the audit period. Pharmacy teams could use this information to work with local GP practices to identify patients who would benefit from management of repeat prescriptions through the NHS repeat dispensing service or who may need more help and education about ordering their repeat medication. b) Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG): the audit will highlight the number of patients requesting repeat medication out of hours which may prompt CCGs to review the following issues with their GP practices:
c) NHS England: support the development of national policy regarding access to urgent and emergency care. The detail of the audit The aims of the audit are to understand:
When should the audit be completed? Pharmacy contractors must undertake the audit in one of two defined two week periods: Period 1 – Monday 9 March to Sunday 22 March 2015 (inclusive) or Period 2 – Monday 23 March to Sunday 5 April 2015 (inclusive) In order to get a good range of results from pharmacies across the country, it is very important that there is a good spread of pharmacies undertaking the audit across the two periods. Ideally half of pharmacies should undertake the audit within each period. The second period covers part of the Easter public holidays which is a busy time for healthcare providers, including community pharmacies, but as a consequence it is also expected that requests for emergency supplies will be increased. This should provide plenty of data for the audit. Pharmacies can choose in which of the defined two week periods they wish to undertake the audit, but PSNC is asking Local Pharmaceutical Committees (LPCs) to try to ensure there is an even spread of pharmacies undertaking the audit across both periods. Please look out for communications from your LPC to explain which audit period they would like to you to take part in. PSNC has asked the multiple pharmacy groups to do the same within their pharmacies. Consequently pharmacies in multiple groups may want to check with their head office which period they should select to undertake the audit. Once the audit data period is over, pharmacies should collate their results and then submit these to NHS England’s online reporting system; details of how to do this will be contained in the final audit paperwork. Do pharmacies have to undertake the audit? Yes, undertaking the audit is a contractual requirement. If a pharmacy does not undertake the audit it is a breach of their contractual responsibilities. What to do next
|
Copies of our older Paper Based News Letters (The LPC News) can be found by clicking below.
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
