Gateshead Medicines Management Committee (GMMC) has recently updated guidelines for primary care prescribers regarding vitamin D preparations.  Gateshead practices are likely to start to review patients on alternative regimes and move them over to the preferred options.

Our Practice Pharmacist colleagues have supplied us with an information dosument information so that Pharmacies can review their stockholding of these items and bear this information in mind when counselling  patients or conducting MURs.  The information will also be added to the Gateshead & SOuth Tyneside LPC Website.

Any queries regarding this should be directed to the contact in the document.

As more Pharmacy and GP systems go live with EPS2, it has come to the LPC's attention that there is some confusion as to what is required to be sent back to the NHSBSA (PPA/PPD)  at the end of the month.  In particular around tokens which have been signed for exemptions not related to age. 

The NHSBSA has produced a useful guide for contractors on the EPS2 system and the end of month procedures. 

Visit our resources page to view the guidance document.

The LPC has become aware that there is a "bug" in the software solution "pharmoutcomes."

As you know, this is the software solution that is being used in our area to capture payment data for methadone and EHC.

Public Health and pharmoutcomes are working on the issue to find a solution.  IN the meantime if you experience any problems please let us know.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society North East Pharmacy Forum is putting on atraining evening about dermatology.  The event is open to Non-members and members of the RPS, pharmacy students and preregistration trainees.  It will be held on  Wednesday 5th June 2013 at  6:00pm (food) for 7pm.  The venue will be Sunderland Mariott Hotel, Queens Parade, Sunderland, SR68DB.  For more detials please download the flyer from here.
Or alternatively register direct from the NEPF website.

Donwload a flyer for an event that is being put on by the North East Pharmacy Forum of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

The event is about the RPS "Faculty" which is the Society's new professional recognition programme. 

The Faculty will provide you with a way of identifying what you need to know at different levels of practice, across all sectors of practice, allowing you to advance as a specialist or generalist. More importantly it will recognise your development,
allowing you to demonstrate to others your level of attainment.

Patrick Stubbs, Director of Marketing and Membership from the RPS will be speaking on the night and will give you details about the faculty, how it works and how to join it.

The event is being held on 19th June at Sunderland University and you can book a place by visiting http://www.northeastpharmacyforum.org/events-booking.

It is open to Non-members and members of the RPS, pharmacy students and preregistration trainees.

Full details are contained within the attached flyer.

As you will know public health has become the remit of the Local Authorities and as such it is the local councils that will now be commisioning those services.  Our Pharmacy contracts are with the NHS and so we will now need to contract with councils direct.  As each council work independently of each other the arrangements may be different for each council.  We currently have detail for those pharmacies in Gateshead who will need to contract with Gatehead Council.  

If your pharmacy is in Gatehsead it is very importnat you read the information on our website (located HERE) and respond as soon as possible.

Once we know about South Tynesides Councils postion we will inform you so if you pharmacy is in South Tyneside keep an eye on our website.  Or to make sure you get alerted join our mailing list or follow us on twitter.

A short while ago we informed you that  our colleagues at Medicines Management in Gateshead had advised us that JEXT will replace EPIPEN in the local area and that you should make sure you start to run any stocks of Epipen out whilst prescriptions are being switched so you don't end up with wasted stock.  

We have now been informed that this will happen in all areas in the North East.  A memo has been released with further infomation.  This can be downloaded here.

Gateshead & South Tyneside LPC joined forces with the other  North East LPC’s to bring you this innovative event. 

The webinar was an online interactive meeting where Mike Dent (Head of Finance, PNSC) talked about Pharmacy Finance and then took part in a question and answer session alongside Mark Burdon  our local PSNC Rep. 

Over 70 contractors took part and many questions were put to Mike and Mark about, funding, Global Sum, New Contracts and NCSO.

The event showed a lot of passion for the topic and was very informative.  The whole thing was recorded and we will be putting it on our website shortly for those who missed it.

This is the first time we have used Webinar technology and apart from a few minor technical it seems to have been well recieved.  The Webinar was transmitted to over 70 people who stayed online throughout the whole event.    Feeback from the IT company that provided the technology was very encouraging.  They told us that the level of questioning and the nuber of peopl e who stayed online was very high compared to other events they have put on which showed good engagement.

We would like to here from anyone who attended so please let us know your thoughts through our online feedback form.

Following a meeting with the substance missue service in South Tyneside the LPC were informed that the service will issue stable patients with a couple of months prescriptions at a time.

There have been instances where contractors have accidentally shredded  future scripts thinking that they had gone beyond their life...forgetting that the life of a cd prescription is 4 weeks from signing or from the  start date.

We have been asked to highlight this to pharmacists so that this prescriptions are not accidentally disposed of.