Richard Copelans (LPN Chair for Northumberland, Tyne & Wear) has asked us to send the following message out to Pharmacy contractors with reference to the recent Call to Action events.

Please find below some information from the Medicines Management Committee meeting in Gateshead.

Lipitor Chewable Tablets
Atorvastatin Chewable tablets (LIPITOR) have been added to the formulary in Gateshead.
They should be prescribed where possible instead of liquid Simvastatin which is a special. If you do receive a prescription for liquid Simvastatin please contact the GP to check that the prescribing GP is aware of this change in formulary.

Vitamin BPC and Vitamin B Compound Preparations
Due new NICE guidance the practice pharmacists in Gateshead will be reviewing the prescribing of both VITAMIN BPC and VITAMIN B COMPOUND preparations. This review will lead to a reduction in the number of patients receiving these preparations so pharmacists are advised to start to reduce their stock levels accordingly

Pivmecillinam 200mg Tablets (Selexid)
Gateshead Medicines Management Committee has asked that pharmacies in Gateshead stock PIVMECILLINAM 200mg tablets ( SELEXID ).It is not anticipated that there will a high demand but it will be an URGENT prescription item.

South Tyneside Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Sunderland Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) wish to commission a service for the provision of an initiation, stabilisation, monitoring and dosing ‘One Stop Shop’ anticoagulant therapy service in a community setting for non-complex patients aged 16 and over.  The aim of the service is to ensure patients receive anticoagulation therapy initiation and monitoring promptly, in line with the national service framework for coronary heart disease, and for patients with Atrial Fibrillation (AF) the NICE clinical guideline CG36.  The purpose is to reduce inequalities in access to anticoagulation therapy, improve anticoagulation control in patients and reduce drug-associated complications.

The service will minimise the potential side effects of warfarin by providing patients with regular monitoring to stabilise the International Normalised Ratio (INR) levels while continuing to maximise the effective benefits of such treatment.

The service will have equitable access, ensuring that patients are treated with dignity and respect, are fully informed about their care and are able to make decisions about their care in partnership with healthcare professionals.

The service is to commence from 1st September, 2014 and contracts will be awarded for 2 years to 31st August, 2016.

The North of England Commissioning Support Unit (NECS) and the CCGs intend to hold a provider information event.  This will be an opportunity for potential providers to raise questions/queries about the service and gain an understanding of the procurement process.  The event will be held on Monday 31 March 2014, 12-2pm at the MPH Training and Conference Centre, Unit 2B, Stonehills Shield Road, Gateshead, NE10 0HW.

If you wish to attend the event please register your organisation on the following eSourcing website: https://nhs-neps.bravosolution.co.uk.  Registration on the portal is free and it can be accessed at any time of the day. 

The qualification questionnaire and supporting documents are available to download through BravoSolutions who are the managed service provider for the NECS e-tendering portal. The portal is available at https://nhs-neps.bravosolution.co.uk.  It is free to register on the portal, and it can be accessed at any time of the day.  Should you have any queries or if you are having problems registering on the portal, please contact the BravoSolution dedicated Supplier Helpdesk by calling 0800 368 4850 (Monday to Friday (9.00 am to 6.00 pm) oremailhelp@bravosolution.co.uk.

Supplier instructions on how to apply for this Tender

1.         Register your company on the eSourcing portal (this is only required once) - Browse to the eSourcing Portal: https://nhs-neps.bravosolution.co.uk and click the link to register - Accept the terms and conditions and click 'continue' - Enter your correct business and user details - Note the username you chose and click 'Save' when complete - You will shortly receive an email with your unique password (please keep this secure).

2.         Express an Interest in the tender - Login to the portal with the username/password - Click the 'ITTs Open to All Suppliers' link. (These are Invitations to Tender open to any registered supplier) - Click on the relevant ITT to access the content. - Click the 'Express Interest' button at the top of the page. - This will move the ITT into your 'My ITTs' page. (This is a secure area reserved for your projects only) -You can now access any attachments by clicking 'Buyer Attachments' in the 'ITT Details' box
 
3.         Responding to the tender - Click 'My Response' under 'ITT Details', you can choose to 'Create Response' or to 'Decline to Respond' (please give a reason if declining) - You can now use the 'Messages' function to communicate with the buyer and seek any clarification - Note the deadline for completion, then follow the onscreen instructions to complete the ITT - There may be a mixture of online & offline actions for you to perform (there is detailed online help available) You must then submit your reply using the 'Submit Response' button at the top of the page. If you require any further assistance please consult the online help, or contact the eTendering help desk.

The closing date for submission of Tenders is 12 noon Monday 14 April 2014.

 

Janette Stephenson (Head of Medicines Optimisation - North of England Commissioning Support (NECS)  has asked us to forward the flyer below to Pharmacies about a conference she is organising.

The conference is primarily aimed at CCG leads and those with a particular interest in medicines optimisation and is open to to all pharmacists too.

If you are interested in attending please follow the details in the flyer.

NHS England has been considering the short term future of the New Medicine Service (NMS), in discussion with PSNC, and it has been agreed that the NMS will continue in 2014/15, subject to the outcome of the academic evaluation of the service.

This means that pharmacy contractors can continue to provide the NMS to all eligible patients, with all service requirements and payment arrangements remaining the same, until further notice is given or the end of 2014/15 is reached.

The decision to let the service continue was informed by initial findings from the evaluation of the service which was commissioned by the Department of Health (DH).

The full evaluation findings will be subject to the usual academic scrutiny, with the final report not now expected to be published before May 2014. 

When the final evaluation is published, NHS England will use it to decide whether to continue commissioning the service. PSNC is of course very hopeful that the evaluation will reflect earlier findings and so that the service will be able to continue to the end of 2014/15 and then beyond.

Alastair Buxton, Head of NHS Services at PSNC, said: 

“Of course we’re delighted to see this valuable service being continued, as we know the benefits it can and is bringing for patients across England. 

In the current financial climate the value of all NHS services is being closely scrutinised so it is no surprise that NHS England will be assessing the final results of the NMS evaluation carefully later in the year; but we have no reason to suspect that those findings will do anything other than mirror the positive outcomes we have so far seen from the service.

So for now the message remains the same as ever – we believe this is a really important service for patients, the NHS and community pharmacies, and we would very much encourage all pharmacies to offer it to as many eligible patients as they possibly can.

We know the difference the service can make, but we need to keep providing it whenever we can to help our patients and to show the NHS what we can do; the latter is particularly important at the moment as NHS England starts to consider the future of the sector following its Call to Action.”

Gateshead & South Tyneside LPC Audit Lead (Lisa Simpson) has prepared a page of information and template document to use for a practice based audit.

If you would like to use the resource please click here to access the page.

Should you have any queries please don't hesitate to contact Lisa.

Don't forget that your Contract monitoring documentation  and Information Governance assurance need to be in by 31st March 2014.

Details of what needs to be sent in and who to send them to can be found here.

The University of Sunderland Alumni Association have asked us to let pharmacists know about the Hope Winch Society Reunion Dinner & AGM.  The event will be held on Saturday 26th April 2014.  Full details can be obtained by clicking on the flyer below.

The Call to Action consultation for improving health and patient care via community pharmacy closes on Tuesday 18th March. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to influence the way community pharmacy develops and operates in the future. Responses to this consultation will inform and shape the development of the community pharmacy contractual framework. The LPC therefore strongly encourages you to respond to this consultation. Number of responses received will carry weight.

You do not need to respond to every question in the consultation framework. The link to the consultation questionnaire is https://www.engage.england.nhs.uk/survey/7980adc7

Please do take the time to respond, however briefly, to this consultation.

The Department of Health has announced the new Category M prices which will apply to prescriptions from April until June 2014. The April 2014 prices can be viewed on the NHS Prescription Services website.

PSNC and the Department of Health (DH) assess the medicine margin achieved by pharmacy contractors and make adjustments, as necessary. DH and PSNC have agreed a reduction to generic medicine reimbursement prices (Category M) from April 2014 of £10 million per month, equivalent to £120 million in a full year. The Drug Tariff will be amended from April 2014, to reflect this change. The delivery of medicine margin will continue to be assessed, with further adjustments made, as necessary.

PSNC’s Head of Finance Mike Dent commented: ‘Whilst we have agreed this adjustment for April, it will be kept under review as further data becomes available on levels of margin being earned.  Our ambition is to move to a system that offers greater consistency of margin delivery for contractors, avoiding the large cuts in reimbursement prices seen in October for many years, and we are working with DH to revise the systems for adjusting Category M prices.’